43rd International Human Rights Training Program (IHRTP) Chiang Mai, Thailand

Opening Remarks by Matcha Phorn-in

Founder and executive director

Sangsan Anakot Yawachon

43rd International Human Rights Training Program (IHRTP)

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Sawasdee Ka, and a warm welcome to Chiang Mai!

On behalf of Sangsan Anakot Yawachon Foundation, an LBQT Indigenous and ethnic minority feminist human rights defender-led organization, it is my great honor and privilege to welcome all of you to the 43rd International Human Rights Training Program.

First of all, I would like to acknowledge the traditional lands and territories on which we gather and honor the Indigenous Peoples, ethnic minority communities, and local communities who have protected them for generations. We pay our respects to ancestors and Elders, their wisdom and cultures, and our shared responsibility to protect these lands, waters, and communities.

In 2017, I was sitting where you are today.

Nine years later, I stand here as a facilitator and as the local organization proudly co-hosting, together with FORUM-ASIA, and Equitas Human Rights, the first IHRTP held outside Canada.

My deepest gratitude to Equitas for trusting us and bringing this historic gathering to Chiang Mai.

Let me tell you why human rights matter to me.

As an Indigenous and ethnic minority child, I struggled for my right to education.

As a girl, I survived sexual violence but was denied justice.

As a lesbian and a mother, I fought for 15 years for marriage equality and 16 years for the legal right to co-adopt my own daughter.

My story is personal, but our struggles are collective.

Around the world, LGBTIQAN+ people face criminalization, discrimination, and violence.

Indigenous Peoples continue to fight for their lands, territories, resources, and self-determination.

Our rivers and ecosystems face destruction from mining, dams, and unsustainable development, while communities bear the consequences.

And our children face growing inequalities, violence, and new threats in the digital world.

These are not separate struggles. They are interconnected struggles for dignity, equality, freedom, and justice.

My journey has taught me that ..

Human rights are not simply given. They are claimed, defended, and won through courage, resistance, and solidarity.

That is why we are here.

Each of you brings your own identities, stories, knowledge, wisdom, and courage.

May this training strengthen not only our knowledge and skill, but also our solidarity, our movements, and our collective power to create change.

Because human rights become reality when we turn knowledge , theory , skill and tools into action, and when we stand together.

To our LGBTIQAN+ community: I want you to know that I hear you, I see you, and I love you! You are belong here!

To all participants, welcome to our IHRTP global family!

A community of human rights educators and defenders that grows with us, connects us, and reminds us that none of us stands alone.

This is our home, a place where you belong, where we care for and trust one another, and where we build solidarity together.

Thank you.

Khop Khun Ka!