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The power of law and the power of people in defense of human rights and the environment

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ERS - Mekong

ERI opened its inaugural EarthRights School-Mekong program in June 2006, drawing from the success of the EarthRights School- Burma model. The program created a cohesive group of activists from each of the Mekong countries who have the intercultural skills, substantive knowledge and experience to voice their individual and collective concerns about Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded hydroelectric projects, and related human rights, transparency and participation issues, within the Greater Mekong Sub region (GMS). Graduates of the program will form a strong network of community advocates who, acting together, can effectively campaign on behalf of affected communities who are currently underrepresented and often excluded from decision making that impacts their rights and livelihoods.

Every two years the EarthRights School-Mekong aims bring together 12 students (two students from each GMS country: Yunnan/China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam) in a four-month intensive residential learning program in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Between the first three months of instruction and the second session of group work, students will return to their home countries to undertake fact-finding and documentation work on key projects. The second session has less focus on instruction, but more on guided campaign/advocacy planning. Each year the school will focus on a specific area of campaigning/advocacy occurring around Mekong region development issues. In its inaugural year, the course focuses on hydro-development and water issues and the ADB.

Features

Applications Now Being Accepted for ERSMekong 2009 Session

The EarthRights School (ERS) - Mekong is a unique training program for activists from the Mekong Region (Yunnan/China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam) whose work focuses on environmental issues and human rights. The seven month-long training program uses experiential learning methods to equip participants from the region with skills required to conduct research, gather data, and effectively campaign around environmental issues affecting the region. The training will take place in Chiang Mai, Thailand from June to December of 2009. Housing, transportation, and a modest living stipend will be provided to successful candidates.

Mekong Student Report Summarizes Agent Orange Lawsuit Against American Chemical Companies

One of the students at the EarthRights Mekong School recently finished a report summarizing a lawsuit brought by the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange (VAVA) against major US chemical companies for the health and environmental consequences of toxic herbicides used during the Vietnam War. Although the suit was not brought by ERI, it uses a cornerstone of ERI's litigation - the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), and seeks damages for personal injuries, wrongful death, birth defects, as well as injunctive relief for environmental contamination and disgorgement of profits. Click here to read our student's report.

Click here to find out more about the lawsuit. ERI filed an amicus brief in the lawsuit, parts of which were quoted at length in the judge's ruling.

| Learn about our EarthRights Schools | Find out how ERI defends ATCA |

Bangkok Post Journalist Joins Mekong School Field Visit to Pak Moon Dam

Vasana Chinvarakorn, one of Thailand's most prominant journalists covering environmental and human rights issues recently joined the EarthRights Mekong School on a field visit to Pak Mun dam and Huay Ra Ha reservoir in Ubon province in northern Thailand. Below is the article she wrote about her trip, which was recently featured in the Bangkok Post.