Covering some eleven countries with an estimated total population of 618 million people stretching across an area of 4,500,000 square kilometres, Southeast Asia represents a region with enormous peacebuilding challenges and opportunities. More than two thirds of the people in the region live in countries that have either experienced armed conflicts or are living through periods of transition towards less conflictive and more participative societies thanks to peace agreements that have been forged or peace processes currently in progress. However, a few of these peace negotiations are undergoing a painstaking period of review, if not reversal. Moreover, momentous developments in the regional aggrupation, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), are underway that in the next two years could help provide a climate more conducive to the peaceful resolution of conflicts among and within the countries in the region. It is perhaps in this area where the mandate, the expertise and the support of the United Nations (UN), its allied agencies and partners could be most valuable and could have the most long-lasting impact, while at the same time contributing to the efforts to make and build peace in the countries confronting violent conflict in the region.

Whitepaper Series No.9 - Southeast Asia - Ed Garcia

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Geneva Peacebuilding Platform Foundation