group before they became independent. In this manner the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) was established in 1997. ANFREL works to promote and support democratisation at national and regional levels across Asia. They focus on elections and election monitoring. Another example is Forum-Asia's involvement with the non-governmental organisations (NGO) Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC) in 2001. With time, the particular organisational priorities of Forum-Asia changed. In a report from 1999 the network describes itself by stating that '... It strives to promote, on the basis of global perspective, a regional initiative towards the protection of human rights, development and peace in the region through collaboration of human rights and development NGOs and people's organizations in Asia. Testimony to this growing focus on global advocacy, was the granting of consultative status to Forum-Asia in 2004 to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC status) after a two-year application process. ECOSOC status provided Forum-Asia with access to ECOSOC, its many subsidiary bodies, the various human rights mechanisms of the United Nations (UN), ad-hoc processes on small arms, and special events organised by the President of the General Assembly. To be able to obtain ECOSOC status, the Forum-Asia Foundation was officially registered in 2000. However, developing, expanding and strengthening a network is not easy. Known challenges that civil society organisations (CSOs) face across the globe, are multi-layered by additional complications when working through a regional network. Reflections from 2002 highlight the emergence of Forum-Asia [as] a regional entity recognized by governments, intergovernmental organizations and civil society groups in the region and elsewhere. It has emerged as a major partner in most leading human rights activities. However, at the same time it was also said that 'We are still faced with the challenge of linking human rights activism from local, national, regional and global level. ... we have to acknowledge that not all members are equally engaged in all the campaigns and activities conducted by Forum-Asia. While by no means unique to a network organisation, Forum-Asia decided to address these issues and those raised in a previous evaluation. In 2003 it established a project on 'Transforming the Secretariat'. An external consultant, Deep Rai, was tasked to address the challenges and needs identified by staff and the executive committee. Independence (2005–2013) Initiated by the aforementioned evaluation and the project, 'Transforming the Secretariat', a process was set in motion to change Forum-Asia.