ASEAN-UN Regional Dialogue on Climate, Peace and Security in Indonesia, November 2023
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) remains an indispensable partner and role model for regional cooperation - it has a vital and growing role in promoting peace and stability in the region and beyond.
The ASEAN-UN partnership continues to strengthen, especially since the adoption of the “Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Partnership between ASEAN and the United Nations” in November 2011 as well as the adoption of the first ASEAN-UN Plan of Action for 2016-2020 and a second ASEAN-UN Plan of Action 2021-2025. The Plans of Action set out strategic priorities, activities and measures to be undertaken by both sides to further enhance political-security, economic, and socio-cultural cooperation, including on cross-sectoral issues, as well as Secretariat-to-Secretariat collaboration. The current Plan of Action includes provisions that enable joint initiatives related to key DPPA mandate areas, including conflict prevention, Women, Peace and Security (WPS), Youth, Peace and Security (YPS, strengthening electoral capacities and cyber-security, including addressing online hate-speech.
Under the political lead of the DPPA-DPO Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, the UN works closely with ASEAN across all areas of cooperation to implement the ASEAN-UN Comprehensive Partnership. Regular meetings are held to discuss progress in the partnership at the Secretariat-to-Secretariat and Ministerial levels. Since 2000, ASEAN-UN Summits have been held regularly, bringing together ASEAN leaders and the United Nations Secretary-General. The Chairman’s Statement of the 13th ASEAN-United Nations Summit held in September 2023 in Jakarta, Indonesia, is available here.
In addition to supporting the UN system in its engagement with ASEAN through the DPPA Liaison Officer in Jakarta, DPPA works directly with ASEAN in the areas of sustaining peace, preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention. Among the joint activities, the ASEAN-UN Regional Dialogue (AURED) provides a regular Track 1.5 platform for discussion of regional peace and security issues, which have covered such topics as prevention of violent extremism, the creation of an ASEAN pool of experts on conflict management, and advancement of the WPS and YPS agendas in Southeast Asia. These dialogues have helped advance progress in these critical areas within ASEAN, such as 2022’s launch of an ASEAN Regional Action on Women, Peace and Security, which was developed with UN support.
The most recent AURED in November 2023 was co-organized by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation and the UN in Jakarta, Indonesia. It brought together experts, policymakers and practitioners as well as representatives of other regional organizations to formulate recommendations on advancing the Climate, Peace and Security agenda in ASEAN.