The Indonesian government will put more emphasis on women’s empowerment during its ASEAN chairmanship this year, including by setting an agenda on women’s peace and security.

The ministry of women empowerment and child protection on Friday said that it has been working together with the coordinating minister for human development and culture, as well as the foreign ministry, in creating work plan for high-level discussions with other ASEAN members.

Women’s peace and security will be one of the main agendas, building upon ASEAN’s regional plan of action regarding the matter, and incorporating best practices across the region. various discussions and sharing sessions on women’s empowerment will be held during the course of the year.

Just last month, ASEAN, under the Cambodian chairmanship, had launched its first ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on Women, Peace and Security in Phnom Penh, in partnership with USAID and UN Women.

The plan was adopted by the ASEAN Leaders during the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits in November 2022 as a key deliverable during the term of Cambodia as ASEAN Chair. It outlines ways to implement the four main pillars of the women, peace and security agenda – women’s protection, participation, prevention, and relief and recovery – along with implementation, coordination, reporting, and monitoring and evaluation. It is meant to advance commitments to the women’s peace and security agenda and turn them into action.