People at the heart of ASEAN

In 2024, the ASEAN Secretariat estimated the total population of the 10 ASEAN member-states at 676.6 million. The ASEAN is the third most populous region in the world, after China and India. With this large population, the ASEAN has made their well-being a priority, echoed in the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 — Resilient, Innovative, Dynamic, and People-Centered ASEAN.

- MA. AURORA D. GEOTINA-GARCIA

Officially, however, there are only 81 ASEAN entities registered with the ASEAN under Annex 2 of its charter, of which 48 are classified as civil society organizations (CSOs). These 81 entities cannot encompass the challenges, priorities, and interests of 676.6 million people. While a people-centered ASEAN is a noble ambition, there is a long path ahead for this goal to become reality.

CSOS AND ASEAN

When asked about “ASEAN,” the ordinary Filipino would look at you in confusion and a shrug. ASEAN awareness is low, regrettably so in the Philippines, where students and many sectors have little to no understanding of what the ASEAN is and what it does. An organization that wants to become people-centered must be known to the people and have considerable levels of impact on their lives.

The 2025 Baseline Study of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint looked at how the ASEAN and its member states have carried out the visions and plans for 2021-2025. What is most noticeable is that the people-centered aspect only seems to apply to what governments do for their citizens. The limited participation and low visibility of CSOs in decision-making and community building is apparent. Connections are not made with CSOs throughout the region, and engagement remains rather vertical.

GEOCIVIC DIPLOMACY IN ASEAN

Foreign Policy Community Indonesia (FPCI) Founder and Chair, Dr. Dino Patti Djalal, has said that more than geopolitics, there needs to be a “geocivic” approach to the ASEAN. FPCI is an independent foreign policy organization based in Jakarta, Indonesia that conducts research on Southeast Asian foreign policies and organizes grassroots conferences in the region.

The goal of geocivic diplomacy in the ASEAN is to build a bottom-up ASEAN community and make the ASEAN process a two-way street, based on concrete and real issues among ASEAN communities.