ASEAN-IPR’s Engagement and Contribution at the ASEAN WPS Summit 2025

The 2025 ASEAN Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Summit was successfully held on 9–10 September in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The second iteration of the ASEAN WPS Summit brought together key stakeholders which included representatives of ASEAN Member States, ASEAN bodies/sectoral bodies/centres/entities, and institutions across the three ASEAN Community pillars, to advance the WPS agenda in the region.

ASEAN Women for Peace Registry

ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (ASEAN-IPR) and the ASEAN Women for Peace Registry (AWPR) proudly participated in the Summit and joined the discussions therein. On the first day of the Summit, two members of the AWPR were featured as speakers.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayesah Abu Bakar (AWPR Malaysia) spoke at the session “Women’s Leadership and Participation in Conflict Prevention, Resolution and Recovery in ASEAN: Regional and Country Perspectives.” She shared one of the outputs of ASEAN-IPR and AWPR’s programme on Women in Peace Processes. This was the first time AWPR conducted a quick-impact research project, carried out between June 2024 and January 2025, and funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ayesah also presented her research findings on Malaysian women building peace through community mediation. She further highlighted that the results from the research by AWPR members across the ASEAN region in the form of profiles of women peacebuilders can be accessed on the ASEAN-IPR website via www.womeninpeace.asean-aipr.org.

In the session that followed, Dr. Amporn Marddent (AWPR Thailand) joined the panel on Gender-Responsive Climate Action and Disaster Resilience for Peace and Security and Gender-Responsive Efforts to Prevent and Counter Violent Extremism (PCVE).

Similarly, Amporn also presented her findings under the Women in Peace Processes programme. Her research highlighted civil society partnerships, climate security, and WPS integration, with a focus on Thailand.

ASEAN WPS Community of Practice

One of the highlights of the ASEAN WPS Summit 2025 was the introduction of the ASEAN WPS Community of Practice (CoP). Kartika Budhi Wijayanti, ASEAN-IPR’s Project Management Officer, presented this initiative during the opening of the Summit’s second day.

“The WPS CoP is a regional hub where WPS actors can learn from each other and work together to solve problems, strengthening both national and regional implementation. We want to make sure that this initiative is not temporary, but a sustainable ASEAN mechanism aligned with ASEAN’s broader vision of peace, security, and stability,” she explained.

Throughout 2025, extensive consultations were held with a wide range of stakeholders, including governments, practitioners, CSOs, academics, researchers, women’s and youth organisations, and media professionals from across the region.

From these consultations, several key outputs were developed: the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the CoP, the composition and coordination mechanism of the CoP Coordinating Committee (CoP CC), and the one-year Work Plan of the WPS CoP.

In concluding her presentation, Kartika emphasized that the ASEAN WPS CoP has not yet been formally established, and she invited all Summit participants to become part of the Community of Practice. “Like how the WPS agenda was birthed from the advocacy and hard work of civil society and grassroots women peacebuilders, so must the WPS CoP. The work on WPS is not only the sole labour of love of ASEAN governments, but of all stakeholders. Participation and collaboration are the strength and backbone of the Community of Practice,” Kartika said.

ASEAN WPS Media Award

Within the ASEAN WPS CoP, the media is recognized as one of the key stakeholders. For this reason, ASEAN-IPR has also initiated the ASEAN WPS Media Award, aimed at fostering understanding and enhancing knowledge of WPS among journalists and media practitioners through workshops, while also supporting and amplifying WPS-related awareness campaigns through greater media visibility and public engagement generated by participants’ journalistic works.

From hundreds of submissions and 30 shortlisted journalists, three winners of the ASEAN WPS Media Award were selected: Elsa Emiria Leba (Indonesia), Ludwig Federigan (Philippines), and Nguyen Khanh Duong (Viet Nam). Their prize included a special trip to attend and cover the Summit’s key moments.

During the event, the winners had the rare opportunity to interview H.E. Dato’ Sri Haji Fadillah bin Haji Yusof, Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, and H.E. Dato’ Sri Hajah Nancy Shukri, Minister of Women, Family, and Community Development of Malaysia.

As first-place winner, Elsa also was given the opportunity to speak in a session entitled “The Role of Media and Digital Platforms in Advancing the WPS Agenda in ASEAN.” In her intervention, Elsa underlined that the media plays a key role in shaping how the public perceives and understands issues, including women’s roles in society and in peace and security.

“If the media can amplify women’s voices, I believe it will also lead the public to think about women in a more positive and inclusive way. Beyond that, the media is also important in raising awareness of certain issues and serving as a watchdog over the government,” Elsa remarked.

The second-place winner, Ludwig Federigan, echoed Elsa’s points on the importance of media engagement in WPS issues and the inclusion of journalists in the ASEAN WPS Summit. Given the significance of WPS in society, Ludwig believes both government and non-government organisations should continue to provide platforms for media practitioners to tell the stories of different actors in the WPS sector. “Regardless of whether you are a woman or a man, the important thing is that there must be human stories told to the public about the role of women in this particular issue,”. Ludwig added.

Nguyen Khanh Duong, who won third place, shared her reflections on the award and the Summit. She expressed her hope that in the future there would be more programs such as awards, training for journalists, and opportunities for them to attend summits and conferences on WPS. She highlighted that in ASEAN, including in Viet Nam, there are still very few training opportunities on the WPS agenda.

“Attending the ASEAN WPS Media Award was a very interesting experience for me because it was my first time joining a training and workshop for journalists specifically about WPS agenda reporting. Reporting on WPS sometimes covers sensitive issues, and we really need professional training. That’s why the ASEAN WPS Media Award workshop was so exciting and helpful,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen also expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to attend the ASEAN WPS Summit. “This summit is such a major WPS event in ASEAN. It was an honour for me to be here as a journalist, and it was a rare chance for the three of us to cover the event. I hope summits and other conferences like this can provide more slots for journalists and reporters to cover them, so that the media can truly play a bigger role in reporting on WPS issues,” she concluded.

 

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