POLICY RESEARCH: Advancing gender-responsive conflict and crisis prevention in ASEAN

Women, peace and security (WPS) is a priority for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as mandated by the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action (RPA) for WPS. The WPS agenda recognises that women and men often experience conflict and crises differently, and that women are disproportionately affected by gender-based violence (GBV), displacement and economic insecurity during times of conflict and crisis, which can increase vulnerability and affect response and recovery.

Gender-responsive policy and practice combines the inclusivity of gender perspectives with the operational and practical capacity to address gender inequalities and intersecting forms of discrimination. The report identifies gaps and opportunities for strengthening peace infrastructure or mechanisms to prevent conflicts and crises. It highlights enabling factors and cases of effective and meaningful participation of diverse women, which has facilitated the prevention of conflicts and crises in Southeast Asia.

The report found that while a conducive policy environment is in place to promote greater participation of women in conflict/crisis prevention, there are gaps between policies and their implementation and a need for coordination mechanisms, capacity-building and additional financial and human resources.

Some promising good practices that demonstrate gender-responsiveness were identified by the research:

1. Women’s leadership in preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) in Indonesia,
2. Women’s participation in earlywarning community initiatives to enhance protection of women and marginalized groups in the southern Philippines and
3. Multi-stakeholder mechanisms that provide a critical space for women-led subnational conflict resolution in the Southern Border Provinces (SBPs) of Thailand. These cases illustrate how women’s meaningful participation in conflict and crisis prevention can diffuse security threats and build and sustain peace.