ASEAN’s move towards a post-2015 community presents an opportune moment to relook at issues surrounding women and their role in this envisioned integration. This is especially so in addressing women’s roles, in a milieu of change and reformation, in bringing about and maintaining peace in the region.

The United Nations Security Council Resolution, UNSCR 1325, adopted in 2000, is based on four pillars – prevention of violence against women; protection from sexual and gender-based violence; participation of women in all levels of decision-making; and women’s effective and sustained involvement in relief and recovery. There are concerns that the envisioned regional economic integration will perpetuate a gendered ASEAN, which prioritises other interests over gender justice.

These concerns are not unjustified given that a World Health Organisation study reveals that 37 per cent of women in Southeast Asia (similar to some African and eastern Mediterranean states) experience some form of gender-based violence during their lifetime. Despite acknowledgement of issues of gender inequality and acting upon these through legislation, policies and programmes, ASEAN still has quite a way to go before gender-bias can be abolished in conflict and disaster relief and rehabilitation.

… Tamara Nair is Research Fellow at the Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies in the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University. This is based on a presentation at a joint event organised by the RSIS’ Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Programme and the Swedish Embassy in Singapore to mark the 15th Anniversary of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.