Asian Resource Foundation (ARF) was established in 1996 as an Asian initiative to respond to the needs of vulnerable communities particularly in the areas of children education, child rights, women empowerment and youth leadership development.
ARF was conceived as a mechanism to mobilize human and financial resources to respond to the emergency needs of the people affected by natural disaster which includes emergency relief and reconstruction programs.
Asia being a multi-cultural region is a platform for interfaith and intercultural cooperation for peace and development. Despite its Asian origin, since its inception, ARF has established links and cooperation with philanthropic individuals and organizations around the world.
The international secretariat in Bangkok, Thailand is responsible for programs operating across over 20 Asian and Middle Eastern countries. ARF has 3 county field offices in Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.
Main objectives are: to build awareness to mobilize and share resources for welfare, emergency needs and holistic development; to support the participatory local initiatives of young people, the poor and marginalized sections of society in order to stimulate self-reliance and sustainability; to develop interfaith, inter-ethnic and inter cultural understanding and cooperation for the promotion and protection of human rights, peace and social harmony; and to undertake participatory action research and publish works that promote greater awareness and policy advocacy. To achieve these goals ARF: mobilizes funds and campaign launches for emergency needs and to support people’s initiatives in the fields of education, empowerment and economic self-reliance; builds capacity of young leadership, NGOs and networks for the promotion of cooperation in the areas of peace education and development; organizes training, workshops, seminars, conferences and exchanges on major issues which affect people’s livelihood, peace, progress, sustainability and freedom; cooperates with academic institutions in the fields of policy research and publication; and promotes trans-border cooperation and solidarity networks.
