Abstract
SummaryMotivationThe United Nations 2030 Agenda recognizes regions as important actors in implementing the sustainable development agenda. At the same time, regions are often criticized for lacking effective implementation, especially in relation to gender equality.PurposeThis study examines whether the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) implements its global commitment to gender equality at a regional level.Methods and approachWe apply qualitative analysis of key ASEAN documents in order to determine how gender equality is implemented regionally. We particularly focus on frameworks related to female migrant workers in ASEAN.FindingsThe analysis shows that ASEAN is formally committed to improving gender equality at a regional level, however, female migrants often end up in unfavourable conditions and precarious work relationships without any institutionalized protection because ASEAN's gender equality initiatives are largely concentrated in the Cultural Community and absent from the Economic Community, indicating an absence of normative coherence for development with regard to gender equality.Policy implicationsThis limited impact of emerging regional commitments to gender equality arises from incoherences in ASEAN's normative governance framework which undermine normative coherence for development at the regional level.
Highlights
Observers of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as Fukuda-Parr (2016) and Martens (2015), have noted that these are supposed to represent qualitative change from an indicator-based fight against poverty to a relationship-based vision of transformative development which meets the material needs of local communities while simultaneously addressing power imbalances in political and economic systems
7 CONCLUSIONS Regional organizations, like Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), generally must balance commitments to global norms, such as those included in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, with the political and economic interests of member states
The analysis presented above indicates that normative coherence for development in ASEAN is a complex issue because of the unevenness of high-level political commitments to gender equality norms which have been written into the ASEAN governance system
Summary
Observers of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as Fukuda-Parr (2016) and Martens (2015), have noted that these are supposed to represent qualitative change from an indicator-based fight against poverty to a relationship-based vision of transformative development which meets the material needs of local communities while simultaneously addressing power imbalances in political and economic systems (see Koff & Maganda, 2016) This vision of development aims to improve the lives of people who have traditionally been disadvantaged in development, such as women, female migrant workers (see Nhengu, 2020).
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