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Regional Consultations in Southeast Asia

Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) and Interpeace, both core group members of the CSO-UN Dialogue Initiative on Peacebuilding, will co-organize the Southeast Asia Civil Society Regional Consultation on the 2025 PBAR in April 2025. The SEA Regional Consultation is part of a series of regional consultations and aims to integrate into both the formal process of the PBAR as well as the next annual CSO-UN Dialogue.

The two-day Consultation will be held in Manila, Philippines, attended by 18-20 civil society actors working on various peace and security engagements in Southeast Asia, and 4-5 civil society actors from international organisations and/or networks. IID’s Research team will harvest the outcome from the discussions during the consultation and draft an Outcome Document, which includes regional recommendations to the 2025 UN PBAR process.

General Objectives

To contribute recommendations from Southeast Asian peacebuilding CSOs to the 2025 PBAR, and ensure more effective peacebuilding down to the regional and country levels through a 2025 PBAR that is rooted in local knowledge and experience.

Specific Objectives

The regional consultation provides spaces for civil society organizations and networks in Southeast Asia to:

  • Conduct a landscape mapping of the UN ecosystem on peace and security, focusing on the multilateral peacebuilding architecture and its connection to regional and national contexts.
  • Detect alignments or misalignments between civil society and the UN, particularly with regards to the identifications and prioritizations of to peace and security issues, as well as the solutions proposed.
  • Explore entry points for civil society in the region to foster a sustainable UN-CSO partnership, with the aim to co-developing a peace and security agenda that reflects local knowledge and needs.
  • To propose a roadmap for institutionalising the CSO sector in PBAR decision-making processes.

In particular, Southeast Asia civil society Consultation process for the 2025 PBAR aims to tackle the following questions:

  • What are the key peace and security priorities in Southeast Asia from the perspective of local civil society?
  • What is the role of the UN in responding to these priorities, in partnership with civil society, and how can these roles be formalized within the framework of the 2025 PBAR?
  • What is the presence and programs of the UN peacebuilding architecture in Southeast Asia? How does the UN DPPA coordinate with other UN entities to implement key peace and security agenda in the region[1], particularly with:
    • UN Women on WPS
    • Mediation Support Unit on peace process mediation in Thailand, Myanmar, Philippines
    • Peace and Development Advisors and UNDP on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention[2]
    • UNOCT on prevention of violent conflicts, which includes P/CVE
    • UN Special Envoy on Myanmar, UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights in Myanmar, and other UN agencies in Myanmar
    • UN office in ASEAN?
  • How does the UN approach peace and security in SEA? How are the peace and security mandates interpreted and executed by UN regional and national agencies in SEA?
  • How can UN engagements of civil society in SEA be co-strategized with CSOs and civil society networks in other regions to ensure alignment and mutual support in peacebuilding efforts??
  • How can platforms such as the CSO-UN Dialogue initiative provide spaces for more sustained local and regional CSO-UN dialogues and engagements on peace and security, especially in shaping the peace and security agenda for the 2025 PBAR?