While 2016 has confronted us with many challenges, there are also reasons for cautious optimism.
Fifty years of grand theft under successive military dictatorships in Myanmar have finally given way to relatively free and fair elections and a civilian dominated government. Forty-five years of conflict in Mindanao has transitioned into what appears to be a lasting peace. The government of Sri Lanka has accepted an ambitious transitional justice agenda relating to mass human rights violations that will be challenging to implement. The Indonesian Anti-corruption
Commission and Court, responsible for the trial and imprisonment of over 400 senior government officials in recent years has amazingly survived its recent confrontation with the national police service.
In 2016 AJAR completed over 140 activities with partners – almost three per week – involving over 3,000 participants. This year also, we developed a total of 56 products including films, television episodes, reports, and submissions. We look forward to being even more productive in 2017.