5 - 6 November 2007
Galadari Hotel, Colombo, Sri Lanka

As agreed during the Inaugural Meeting of NTS-Asia in January 2007, the First Annual Convention of NTS-Asia was held in Colombo from 5-6 November 2007. The Convention was organized by the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, with the support of the Ford Foundation and the NTS-Asia Secretariat, the S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.

In his opening remarks, Prof Hussain welcomed the presence of NTS working group members from the Near East and South Asia (NESA) Network - scholars from leading research institutions from South Asia and the Middle East . Prof Hussain noted the timeliness of the NESA NTS Group meeting in coinciding with the NTS-Asia Annual convention as it generates opportunities for much needed cross-regional fertilization of ideas, research activity and long-terms intellectual collaboration in the challenging field of non-traditional security issues. Dr Budiharsana then expressed her thanks to RCSS for organizing the event and was delighted to see the progress of NTS-Asia thus far and looked forward to future developments within the Consortium.

In her introductory remarks, Dr Caballero-Anthony noted the significance of the convention as it marks the next phase of NTS-Asia activities, wherein members take off from where they left off since the inaugural meeting in Singapore in January 2007. Dr Caballero-Anthony also made mention of three main issues that the consortium needs to address. First, the need to take stock of emerging challenges (such as the effects of climate change, infectious diseases and transnational crime) and not only assess their implications for human security, but also to bring value to these analyses by adding an NTS perspective - as was discussed during the Inaugural Meeting. Second, is the need to bridge the East-West divide on NTS research and policy analysis. The shared awareness of NTS issues in Asia and the work done by NTS-Asia member institutes serves to provide the avenue to break through the traditional notions of security that is prevalent in the West. And third, there is the need to advance the study of NTS in Asia beyond the current emphasis on the securitization dynamic towards exploring concrete ways and means for protecting peoples and societies. This would involve closer examination of response mechanism to NTS issues such as poverty, health and natural disasters, thereby highlighting gaps and identifying best practices among state and non-state groups in responding to these challenges.

In her riveting keynote address, Dr Rama Mani, Executive Director of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES) Sri Lanka , noted that human security and democracy in South Asia is characterized by as a "state of siege in a reign of terror". This, she noted, was ironic given the fact that human security emerged in the global south due to the harsh realities of tyranny and inequality. She thus noted remedies for this attack on human security and democracy. First, there is a need to re-think and reclaim the concept of human security. This is vital as the diffusion of human security has resulted in the "securitization of anything" and greater uncertainty over who should take responsibility. As such a more critical view of HS is needed. Second, there is the need to question the concept of democracy, which has been discredited as a Western tool. Moreover, the use of democracy has often been more concerned with the forms (i.e. electoral processes) rather than its substance (i.e. social justice). It is also critical to judge democracy based on socio-economic development equality, states would be able to avoid the dilemma of juggling economic development and democracy.

The Convention proceedings were followed various panels on NTS issues namely (i) Climate Change and Global Pandemics (ii) Transnational Terrorism and the Role of Small and Light Weapons; (iii) Illicit Human Trafficking, Transnational Crime and Narcotics; and (iv) other NTS issues related to migration, democracy and gender. The final session of the Convention was critically important as Consortium members finalized outstanding issues pertaining to membership, coordination of research clusters and other outstanding issues to further enhance the running of NTS-Asia.

To view presentations from the convention, click here

Presentations from the 2007 Convention

Environmental Security and Regional Cooperation
Shin-Wha Lee, Korea University

Non-Traditional Security Challenge Scenario in North-East India
Sandhya Goswami, Gauhati University, Assam, India

The Challenge of Armed Groups in South Asia
Syed Rifaat Hussain, Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, Sri Lanka

Women & Peacebuilding: The Athwaas Initiative in Kashmir
Manjrika Sewak, WISCOMP, The Foundation for Universal Responsibility of HH Dalai Lama, New Delhi, India

A New Phenomenon in Human Trafficking Across the Vietnam-China Border
Pham Ngoc Thach, Institute of Chinese Studies, Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences