One of main programs of Indonesia Social Justice Network (ISJN) is Annual Conference on Social Justice (ACSJ) 2019. This event will be held in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara on 4th and 5th of December, 2019. ACSJ 2019 is held by ISJN in collaboration with the Institute of Resource Governance and Social Change (IRGSC), The Regional Research and Development Agency (Badan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah / Bappelitbangda) of East Nusa Tenggara Province, and Widya Mandira Catholic University. The committee is expecting around 80 researchers, academics, bureaucrats and activists from different places in Indonesia will attend the event.

“ACSJ is held annually because social justice is a central issue that worth receive greater emphasis. The re-interpretation of it is crucial in responding to our latest challenges,” said Andi Ahmad Yani, Chairperson of the ISJN Presidium who is also a lecturer at the Hasanudin University, Makassar.
The main theme of ACSJ 2019 is “Rethinking Development through Social Justice and Humanity”. According to Elcid Li, as the chief executive committee of ACSJ 2019, this theme was chosen as a response to the latest problems in various regions in Indonesia. “Investment agenda has been increasingly prioritized at the expense of humanity and social justice that sit as the foundational principles of our nation. Investment often cannot immediately guarantee the security of citizens affected by it. These are two different things,” said Elcid Li. He hoped that these principles could be discussed as a framework to respond to investment-related problems faced by communities in Indonesia.
“We are not anti-investment. However, we demand that humanitarian and social justice issues that form the basis of our nation do not disappear when investment becomes the government’s first priority,” Elcid Li continued.
ACSJ 2019 is held by ISJN in collaboration with the Institute of Resource Governance and Social Change (IRGSC), The Regional Research and Development Agency (Badan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah / Bappelitbangda) of East Nusa Tenggara Province, and Widya Mandira Catholic University.
The speakers will be divided into 14 panels that would further discuss contemporary pressing issues such as citizenship and identity-based conflict, gender-based conflict, public health policy, poverty and social exclusion, welfare in border areas, and trafficking in persons. The Committee also invite distinguished speakers from national decision makers and local activists to share their experiences about social justice issues relating with SDGs agendas.
“In this event, the researchers-bureaucrats in Bappelitbangda have the opportunity to discuss the problems they meet in the community, and the activists, academics, and researchers would also have the opportunity to approach and understand the same problem from different perspectives” said Frits Nggili one researcher in Bappelitbangda, East Nusa Tenggara.
The event is preceded by a Gala Dinner on December 3rd. This conference will be held at the Neo Hotel, Kupang. The public and community members who wish to be participants of the conference are expected to register early. The first 50 registrants are free of charge, but those who register after that will need to cover their own consumption fee. In addition, the committee also selected participants based on the discussed theme and space capacity per session of discussion. Other than open to the public, the committee also invited the relevant stakeholders related to the themes that will be discussed.