DCAF's Asia-Pacific Unit has partnerships with institutions from nine countries in Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. APU's SSG network thus spans the entire region, bar for Brunei and Laos. It is working hard to maintain and intensify its presence in the region. 

From 7 to 9 October 2019 the first SSG Forum in Southeast Asia was held in Manila, the Philippines. The forum served as a venue for exchanges between representatives from nine countries, with central topics in the discussion being for instance the need for improved transparency about the role of the military in governments and civilian oversight thereof, improvements to legal frameworks in security sectors and more stakeholder dialogue and cooperation in SSR. The role of civil society, cooperation in preventing violent extremism, and the risk of border disputes where also prominent discussion points.

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Various national working group meetings have been held since then in multiple countries across the Southeast Asian region. Representatives from various parts of security sectors (e.g. civil society, military, parliament, justice system) discuss challenges and opportunities in these national working group meetings. They provide a platform for discussion on how to move forward with improving security sector governance at the national level.  You can read more about these in our activities feed.

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