Ms. Saree Aongsomwang is a pioneer and a respected spokesperson in Thailand's consumer protection movement. She was instrumental in several successful health campaigns, such as rational drug use in the countryside, the rights of patients, the campaign against amendments to Thailand's Pharmaceutical Patent Act, and the rights of consumers. Ms. Saree has established a consumer magazine which is the first "alternative" magazine for consumers and that tackles consumer rights, consumer protection, misleading products and product testing, to name a few. The magazine has become widely read and has forced the mainstream media to adapt by including consumer protection columns in newspapers and magazines. She also established the "Complaints and Legal Assistance Center" for complainants, particularly the underprivileged, as another part of the consumer protection program of her foundation. She is regularly invited to appear on TV and radio to educate the public on consumers' rights, and her views are regularly featured in the press and on radio programs.

ALFP Research Topic in Japan: Consumer Movement in the Globalization Era

Urvashi BUTALIA (Founder, Kali for Women)

Ms. Butalia is a well-known figure in gender studies not only in India but also in Europe and the United States. She co-founded Kali for Women, the first feminist publisher in India, which has published various books on gender issues in India. She has been active in the women's movement in India. She has also been active in researching the modern history of India, and her book The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India, an oral history of the tragic separation of India and Pakistan, has been a bestseller in India. She is also an active participant in international citizen's exchange conferences, where she speaks on behalf of Indian women.

ALFP Research Topic: Globalization, Culture and Gender

Dr. Faruk is a scholar who is interested in recent international issues of theoretical and practical questions of culture. He is also a renowned literary critic on contemporary Indonesian literature, and has written many articles on literature and culture in general; he has been published in journals of culture, the arts and literature. He is also interested in theater productions which show dramatists' perceptions of the most recent issues in society, as he believes that the arts should reflect the experiences of the artists, individually as well as societally.

ALFP Research Topic in Japan: Orality and Global Culture-Indonesian Experience in Globalization

KUMAOKA, Michiya (President, Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC))

Mr. Kumaoka is one of the founding members of the Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC), which was founded in Bangkok in 1980 in order to give assistance to refugees from Indo-China. Through the activities of JVC, he has worked as a vocational instructor at refugee camps or vocational schools in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, and has been involved in numerous emergency relief activities as well as rural development and environmental protection for the past 20 years. He is currently a board member of various organizations, including the Japanese NGO Center for International Cooperation (JANIC) and Japan Campaign to Ban Landmine (JCBL), as well as Secretary General of the Relief Campaign for Children in North Korea, Japan, and the People's Forum on Cambodia, Japan.

ALFP Research Topic: Role of NGOs in Peace Building/Conflict Prevention

PARK, Won-Soon (Secretary General, People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD))

Mr. Park came to be known as a human rights lawyer through his involvement in legal support activities for political prisoners, and made a great contribution to the democratization movement in Korea in the 1980s. In 1994, he participated in the formation of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), which advocates social justice by monitoring power abuse or corruption, presents alternative policies, and encourages the social participation of the people. For the nationwide campaign for a fair and just general election which took place in April, 2000, he acted as the representative of the "Citizens' Alliance for the 2000 General Election (CAGE)," and led the movement successfully by bringing down 70 percent of the listed unfit candidates not to be elected. Mr. Park was nominated as one of the ten most influential national leaders for the 21st century by an influential magazine in Korea.

ALFP Research Topic in Japan: NGOs, Non-Profits