of Women Foundation (FWF) from Thailand. The initial objectives of Forum-Asia were to conduct programmes to further strengthen the effectiveness of human rights organisations in the region and to facilitate collaboration between them. The idea was that while there was an increase in organisations working in Asia on human rights, these organisations were mostly set up or run by groups in Europe or North America. The notion was that the region needed a regional network that was set up by Asians for Asians. Forum-Asia would provide a voice for victims of human rights abuses, their families and those that were attempting to defend them, the human right defenders (HRDs) themselves. There was a conscious choice to include both human rights and development in the name. While most, if not all, organisations initially involved were human rights organisations, there was a recognition of the interconnectedness of the human rights concerns that many of the founding members worked on with socio-economic development, including developmental and economic inequality, and market globalisation. Throughout Forum-Asia's history so far though – that is until 2016 – the development part of its name has been overshadowed by the work on human rights. The first months after the founding meeting were spent drafting proposals and raising funds. D.J. Ravindran was asked to help develop and establish the organisation as a consultant, and was joined in this task by Chalida Tajaroensuk. During the 1991 meeting it had been suggested that Forum-Asia should be hosted by one of the founding organisations. The UCL, based in Bangkok, Thailand became the host to the regional secretariat of the network. Ms. Songphorn Tajaroensuk became the first Secretary General of Forum-Asia. The first activity that Forum-Asia undertook was organised jointly with TFDP and PTSC. It was a ‘Regional Training Programme on Fact-Finding and Documentation of Human Rights Violations', which took place on 27 September-12 October 1992 in Manila. It was an indication of the initial focus of the network. During the first years the activities and campaigns of Forum-Asia largely centred on capacity building with the vision of strengthening the member organisations in the region. Building on the experience of some of the members, these skills were shared and spread throughout the network. In 1993, Forum-Asia became involved in the UN World Conference on Human Rights, including in the preparatory process that resulted in the ‘Final Declaration of the Regional Meeting for Asia of