A Filipino ambassador called for a more active participation of women experts in peace and reconciliation efforts in the Southeast Asian region during a recent dialogue co-hosted by Australia and Vietnam.
Ambassador Elizabeth P. Buensuceso, the Philippine eminent person for the high-level task force for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Community’s Post-2025 Vision, called for the mainstreaming of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda in all three pillars of ASEAN during the second ASEAN-Australia WPS Dialogue held on Nov. 9.
“We were able to do this for ASEAN connectivity; we can do it for WPS,” Buensuceso said.
She stressed that gender must be mainstreamed as a crosscutting issue to facilitate cross-sectoral collaboration on women, peace, and security in strategic policy, planning, and programming among key ASEAN mechanisms.
The Ambassador called for the ASEAN Women for Peace Registry (AWPR) "to actively participate in the peace and reconciliation efforts in the region as mandated in its terms of reference."
She emphasized that "the AWPR should also be allowed to interface with the ministers or even the leaders of ASEAN to present suggestions in the same manner that the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights is allowed to do."
She added that the AWPR should push through with its brainstorming and team-building activity.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Buensuceso is the former Philippine Permanent Representative to ASEAN and, as then DFA Acting Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations and ASEAN Affairs, former Philippine Leader to the ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting. It was during her term as Philippine Permanent Representative to ASEAN that the AWPR was conceptualized and launched.
Launched in December 2018, the AWPR includes women experts from all ASEAN Member States, who may be approached by ASEAN when a specific expertise is required. The registry is also intended to support the operationalization of the 2017 Joint Statement on Promoting Women, Peace, and Security in the region.