CIAO DATE: 07/2012
June 2012
Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies
The concept of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is relatively new to many Southeast Asians, who have traditionally relied on the state for security and therefore faced a sense of hopelessness when such protection was lacking. While the state represented the only institution ensuring human security for the masses in the past, civil society organisations (CSOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have today emerged as indispensable non-state actors campaigning for humanitarian interventions in situations where the state has failed in the provision of human security. This paper discusses the roles that CSOs and NGOs play in promoting the R2P concept in Southeast Asia, exploring the nature of such roles and attempting to arrive at policy recommendations for a more efficient operationalisation and implementation of R2P. It also suggests that although CSOs and NGOs have been successful in advocating R2P in the region, problems that could potentially obstruct the functionality of these organisations continue to persist. The roles of CSOs and NGOs in three fundamental areas of R2P are explored: promoting awareness and understanding of R2P; aiding the protection process and strengthening justice; and, knitting alliances with other actors.
Resource link: Responsibility to Protect in Southeast Asia: Enlarging Space for Civil Society [PDF] - 260K