ASIA PACIFIC

Overview of the regional context

The Asia-Pacific region experienced a complex interplay of political, economic and social dynamics, including the cost-of-living crisis and climate crisis, as well as geopolitical tensions. These factors impacted the region's human development trajectory, as well as its governance and rule of law landscape. While the region experienced areas of progress (as highlighted in the UNDP Regional Human Development Report ), deep inequalities persisted within and between countries. As of 2023, Asia-Pacific was off-track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, notably SDG 13 (Climate action) which regressed significantly.

While the region continued to demonstrate relatively strong economic growth in 2023, it also exhibited concerning socio-political trends including democratic backsliding, a significant decline in gender equality, and increased polarization, as reflected in global governance, corruption and rule of law indexes. Shrinking civic space and repressive laws restricted freedoms and public participation, particularly for human rights defenders and marginalized communities, including those advocating for responsible business practices. Reported increased incarceration rates remained a worrying trend. The region hosts 30 percent of the global migrant population and nearly 15.6 million forcibly displaced and stateless individuals, notably from Afghanistan and Myanmar, many living in precarious situations.

Access to Justice

UNDP focused on access to justice programming in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam. Through its interventions, UNDP promoted people-centred approaches to justice, enhanced legal aid mechanisms in criminal and civil justice matters, contributed to the protection of inheritance, land and property rights for displaced communities, empowered Indigenous groups to seek remedies for business-related human rights abuses, and supported women in pursuing justice for gender-based violence. In addition, two new projects received support from UNDP’s Global Programme for Strengthening the Rule of Law, Human Rights, Justice and Security for Sustainable Peace and Development (the Global Programme). These initiatives aim to strengthen access to justice for persons with disabilities and create a more accessible justice environment in Bhutan, as well as a project to boost legal advocacy and clinical legal education on environmental rights in Viet Nam.

In partnership with the International Legal Foundation and UNICEF, the Global Programme provided technical support to the National Legal Services Authority of India and co-organized the inaugural Regional Conference on Access to Legal Aid – Strengthening Access to Justice in the Global South. As a result, participants from 51 countries adopted the New Delhi Principles on the Role of Judiciary in Ensuring Equal Access to Justice for All in the Global South. The document will serve as a roadmap to make access to legal remedies easier, faster and more equitable. On the sidelines of the conference, UNDP led the ministerial roundtable Advancing the Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030: Access to Justice – Global South, where representatives of 18 ministries of justice committed to promote people-centred justice as a means to achieve the SDGs

UNDP actively engaged in the Justice Affairs Diplomacy Ministerial Forum hosted by the Ministry of Justice of Japan. The Forum held the first-ever dialogue between ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and marked the 50th year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation. On this occasion, ministers of justice and attorney-generals gathered to shape a common vision and foster cooperation in the field of rule of law and human rights. During the ASEAN-G7 meeting in Tokyo, UNDP also organized a Special Event on Ensuring Access to Justice, showcasing the Thailand Institute of Justice’s Justice by Design Initiative, which is part of the UNDP-led Judicial Integrity Network (JIN ASEAN). The initiative demonstrates how listening directly to people enables justice systems to effectively respond to citizens' needs.

Finally, UNDP significantly expanded the Judicial Integrity Network: from 913 to over 3,130 judges across ASEAN countries, and organized the Evolving Justice: ASEAN Judges Conference.

Strengthening National Human Rights Systems

Under the TriPartite Partnership with the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) and the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), UNDP developed new initiatives in Timor-Leste and the Maldives to strengthen the institutional capacities of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) in line with the Paris Principles. Additionally, a capacity assessment of the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal was planned in coordination with the Asia Pacific Forum and OHCHR. The implementation will start in early 2024.

GENDER JUSTICE

In the Maldives, UNDP partnered with the Judicial Service Commission and the British High Commission to support the first Women Judges Conference, providing a platform to discuss experiences and challenges, including gendered threats to judicial integrity.

The regional initiative Advancing Women's Participation and Gender Justice through Behavioral Change Interventions in Asia-Pacific, supported by the Funding Windows and the Global Programme, was completed in Indonesia, Nepal, Samoa and Solomon Islands. In Indonesia, behaviorally-informed Instagram advertisements reached over a million users, encouraging women to seek  information about the services for gender-based violence survivors.  Similarly, in the Solomon Islands, behaviorally-informed SMS messages led to an increase in the number of women making appointments with the Public Solicitors Office to receive information on land issues. 1

Business and Human Rights

UNDP advanced Business and Human Rights (B+HR) initiatives across 14 countries in Asia. Through strategic partnerships with the governments of Japan, Sweden and the European Union, UNDP conducted training sessions for over 6,000 business professionals, primarily focusing on human rights due diligence and promoting responsible business practices, including under the framework of the B+HR Academy. Additionally, as a result of UNDP’s technical assistance, National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights (NAPs) were adopted in Indonesia, Mongolia , Nepal , Thailand and Viet Nam.

To promote the B+HR agenda on sub-regional and national levels, two events were hosted in Bangkok: the United Nations Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum and the inaugural Corporate Sustainability and Environmental Rights in Asia (CSERA) conference, in addition to the sub-regional forum for South Asia in Nepal. In Thailand, two studies were conducted on laws and measures addressing strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP) in the context of business, as well as on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (HRDs). In India and Myanmar, UNDP supported legal aid services to enable access to remedy for business-related human rights violations.

At the regional level, UNDP published a report on Corporate Accountability and Climate Change with recommendations on mitigating the impact of businesses on climate change and human rights, as well as a study that explores the motivations of youth as consumers and seeks ways to incentivize consumers to prioritizes human rights and sustainability.

Lessons learned

The year 2023 has spurred reflection on testing innovative approaches to enhance justice service delivery through a people-centred lens. Insights gleaned from the Delhi Regional Conference on Access to Legal Aid, combined with the hesitancy of state institutions in several countries to fully adopt principles that prioritize people-centred justice and support diverse pathways for dispute resolution, underscored the imperative for systematic and targeted investment. Concerted action from UNDP, development partners, civil society and national actors is vital to institutionalize people-centred justice approaches and challenge conventional mindsets within the routine practices of state bodies and justice stakeholders.

Initiatives leveraging behavioral insights also stressed the need to test innovative approaches, enabling decisions on development solutions midway through projects based on emerging insights. This adaptive method proves valuable in addressing complex challenges like women’s access to justice and gender-based violence by analysing specific behaviors for impact assessment. However, behavioral insights projects require time, especially for exploratory research lacking comprehensive long-term design. Ethical considerations, alongside other resource-intensive factors, must be integrated. This entails developing participant information sheets, consent forms, external ethics reviews, understanding behavior barriers, testing interventions, and evaluating final impact for validation of prototyping.

Looking forward

In 2024, UNDP intends to build stronger people-centred justice narratives, including development solutions related to gender, environmental and digital justice. Scaling up support to judicial networks and fostering South-South cooperation on judicial accountability and integrity is expected to strengthen partnerships for transparent and accessible justice systems.

In the business and human rights domain, UNDP will promote responsible business practices, improve governments’ capacity and motivation to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, strengthen bottom-up approaches to ensure accountability and access to remedy. This includes fostering stronger engagement with media and youth and investing in stronger interagency collaboration on business and human rights regionally.

Anticipating robust cooperation with NHRIs under the Tripartite Partnership, endeavors are underway to strengthen regional dialogue and partnerships, including with OHCHR and the Asia Pacific Forum to bolster NHRI institutional capacities and improve regional offerings on human rights defenders and mechanisms, aligning with UNDP pledges following the Human Rights 75 forum. As eight countries are tentatively scheduled for the 4th cycle of the Universal Periodic Review in 2024-2025, there is an opportunity to strengthen linkages between human rights and the SDGs while promoting UNDP's corporate service offer in this realm.