T

he ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (ASEAN-IPR) and the United Nations held a workshop in Jakarta last week that looks at the ASEAN perspective on conflict management and resolution.

The three-day event, joined by 500 participants from ASEAN member states and non-government representatives, highlighted ceasefire and cessation of hostilities monitoring and verification, as well as peace-building with particular attention to best practices and lessons learned from the experiences of Indonesia in dealing with separatist movement in Aceh, the Philippines in settling Mindanao conflicts, as well as Myanmar in facing the Rakhine State crisis.

Moreover, the workshop also endeavored to look into global trends and perspectives, and provide comparative examples from other regions on the aforementioned topics, according to a press release sent to The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

ASEAN-IPR executive director Rezlan Ishar Jenie highlighted how “the many practical experiences and technical expertise had mostly remain dispersed across the region”. Therefore, in line with the ASEAN-IPR’s mandate and functions, the institute aims to provide a platform for exchange of undocumented regional best practices of peace processes and reconciliation.

The UN’s regional coordinator for Indonesia, Anita Nirody, underscored that the joint initiative truly provides a good example of a regional organization working together with the UN and other international partners towards promoting peace and stability through the prevention of conflict.

Former foreign minister Marty Natalegawa, now a member of the UN secretary general’s advisory board, expressed confidence that the ASEAN-IPR could be more impactful in the region, particularly in maximizing its function to provide recommendations and pooling expertise on peace and reconciliation.