ASEAN for the peoples

2026 ASEAN@48 involved, included, engaged civil society organizations during their May 8 session the Cebu Summit at Mövenpick Hotel Mactan.

Led by the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia, the session on SDGs in ASEAN: Progress, Gaps and What It Means for Communities led a number of us in the audience to better appreciate and harness ASEAN interconnectivity because of our cutting-edge ASEAN is for peoples, ASEAN is family, ASEAN is home!

About 700 million of us are located across 11 member-states. While we have our differences and diversities, our people, communities, and environments share the same challenges and gaps related to the promotion and attainment of the SDGS.

2030 remains the deadline for the 17 SDGs aimed to create a better world for all, beyond 2015, after the Millenium Development Goals.

As of this month, reports tell us how far we are from the 2030 deadline set for SDGs --only 35% compliance/attainment score.

What this means is that millions of people in communities throughout the world, ASEAN included, remain in poverty, hunger, without access to health, education, gender equality, among other continuing challenges to life and survival.

The global, regional, local, environmental landscape has definitely changed. Despite economic progress, social inequality and environmental destruction have also continued.

Factor in the recent Middle East crisis and unabated global warming with global repercussions affecting everyone throughout the world, there is more urgency for all to unite together and protect people and planet soonest.

Collective, collaborative partnerships among ourselves within our local, regional, global networks have to be activated, mainstreamed and set in motion soonest, NOW.

ASEAN has the advantage of being culturally people-family-home centered. How to fully harness this strategic value will determine how peoples, communities and the environment of ASEAN will proceed beyond continuing, compounded, simultaneous present challenges.

Will official ASEAN, for example, as a policy, see oil-rich producing member states provide easier, sufficient energy support to their oil-dependent members soon?

Aside from official collaboration, will post-ASEAN#48 scenario see a more united ASEAN forge, navigate the turbulent geopolitical crises affecting especially the vulnerable, the marginalized, the least, the lost, the forgotten, the ignored?

How can inequality, still so prevalent and divisive, be challenged, a more equal global, regional community created soonest where basic needs of millions are prioritized?

How can people of ASEAN reach out to one another more, converge, collaborate in making a better world for all

Involving multisectors, not just officials, adopting bottom-top to supplement the dominant top-bottom approaches have to be harnessed widely and urgently.

Meetups, dialogues, online, onsite networks have to grow, engage especially in common, collective, unified action for appropriate response to the challenges affecting people and communications throughout their respective locations.

The marginalized have to be linked with other sectors --in business, industry, academe, others-- to navigate together and arrive as soon as possible where prosperity, peace, protection are ensured for people and planet.

ASEAN for the people, building, strengthening ASEAN as home, as family for all will provide a unique regional model of partnership, one radically different from the present economic world order where markets, instead of peoples and households, are prioritized!

2026 ASEAN Summit in Cebu, involving more non-official participation and engagement is a laudable step that may accelerate, improve local, regional, global effort, commitment and action in promoting, attaining SDGs, on or before 2030.

Everyone has to remember 2030 IS our deadline to keep our world from further global warming.

Now, more than ever, we are all reminded to work together for peace to reign within the hearts of all people, among all the countries of this present troubled world.

While ASEAN#48 ends May 8, we hope and pray the momentum to forge and navigate this present turbulent, crises-ridden local/regional global world will continue/strengthen till all SDGs are attained!