Flags of ten members of ASEAN
The Jakarta Post, August 10 2016
Commemorating its 49th anniversary on Monday, ASEAN has yet to see a strong singular identity among its some 625 million citizens, with experts saying the grouping needs to work on involving people and engaging civil society groups in a more substantial way.
“[ASEAN] needs to move away from activities that are merely ceremonial and engage people and civil society [in a more meaningful way],” ASEAN team coordinator at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Khanisa Krisman told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Khanisa said it was important that ASEAN not limit itself to activities undertaken at the national and bureaucratic level, but also allow space for civil society to have a say in the community-building process.
Of the three pillars of the community, namely the economic, political security and sociocultural pillars, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) has thus far occupied the majority of talks, but has also failed as a platform on which people can relate to each other.
According to a 2015 survey by LIPI to gauge awareness of the ASEAN community-building process in 16 major Indonesian cities, only a quarter of correspon-dents could cite any benefits of the AEC.
The problem, Khanisa argued, was that ASEAN still had trouble translating its concept of a people-centered community, as set out in the ASEAN Vision 2020-2025.
Observers have also attributed ASEAN weakness to the so-called non-interference principle whereby member countries pledge not to interfere in each other’s domestic affairs and to respect the independence, territorial integrity and national identity of all members.
Khanisa said, however, that ASEAN made it a point to measure progress by the lowest common denominator of its member states so as to ensure that no country was left behind.
A contrasting view of the non-interference principle was aired by Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) ASEAN program manager Daniel Awigra, who said that the principle had led to an inability for ASEAN to gel as a community.
Countries should be able to speak freely about all the issues each ASEAN member state faces, however taboo, without needing to hide behind non-interference, he said.
“If ASEAN were really looking to become a people-centered community then it would [speak out on issues] that are close to people’s hearts. In reality, ASEAN is quite far removed from that,” Daniel said.
As it stands, Daniel said, ASEAN serves only the interests of businesses and capitalists, leveraging big-money spenders to promote regional growth while ignoring human rights and corruption eradication efforts that are felt at the grassroots level.
“ASEAN shouldn’t boast of being a people-centered community if it doesn’t even touch on the agenda of the people.”
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August 11, 2016
ASEAN ‘failing to put people first’
by Nhan Quyen • [Human Rights]
Flags of ten members of ASEAN
The Jakarta Post, August 10 2016
Commemorating its 49th anniversary on Monday, ASEAN has yet to see a strong singular identity among its some 625 million citizens, with experts saying the grouping needs to work on involving people and engaging civil society groups in a more substantial way.
“[ASEAN] needs to move away from activities that are merely ceremonial and engage people and civil society [in a more meaningful way],” ASEAN team coordinator at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Khanisa Krisman told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Khanisa said it was important that ASEAN not limit itself to activities undertaken at the national and bureaucratic level, but also allow space for civil society to have a say in the community-building process.
Of the three pillars of the community, namely the economic, political security and sociocultural pillars, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) has thus far occupied the majority of talks, but has also failed as a platform on which people can relate to each other.
According to a 2015 survey by LIPI to gauge awareness of the ASEAN community-building process in 16 major Indonesian cities, only a quarter of correspon-dents could cite any benefits of the AEC.
The problem, Khanisa argued, was that ASEAN still had trouble translating its concept of a people-centered community, as set out in the ASEAN Vision 2020-2025.
Observers have also attributed ASEAN weakness to the so-called non-interference principle whereby member countries pledge not to interfere in each other’s domestic affairs and to respect the independence, territorial integrity and national identity of all members.
Khanisa said, however, that ASEAN made it a point to measure progress by the lowest common denominator of its member states so as to ensure that no country was left behind.
A contrasting view of the non-interference principle was aired by Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) ASEAN program manager Daniel Awigra, who said that the principle had led to an inability for ASEAN to gel as a community.
Countries should be able to speak freely about all the issues each ASEAN member state faces, however taboo, without needing to hide behind non-interference, he said.
“If ASEAN were really looking to become a people-centered community then it would [speak out on issues] that are close to people’s hearts. In reality, ASEAN is quite far removed from that,” Daniel said.
As it stands, Daniel said, ASEAN serves only the interests of businesses and capitalists, leveraging big-money spenders to promote regional growth while ignoring human rights and corruption eradication efforts that are felt at the grassroots level.
“ASEAN shouldn’t boast of being a people-centered community if it doesn’t even touch on the agenda of the people.”