The SEA Human Development Report will be developed with the theme “Deepening and Broadening the Benefits of Regional Economic Integration and Regional Economic Cooperation for Human Development”

It will highlight three main chapters:
       (a)  Human Development in Southeast Asia
       (b)  Challenges and Opportunities of Regional Integration
       (c)  Regional Cooperation and Human Development             

The development of these chapters will be framed by the ASEAN Vision 2020 and subsequent elaboration (Hanoi Plan of Action, Initiative for ASEAN Integration) and will translate that vision in terms of human development outcomes, assessing progress using, among others, the Millennium Development Goals and targets.  

The Report will offer a framework for monitoring and assessing ASEAN Vision 2020.   In particular, the chapter on “Human Development in Southeast Asia” will correspond to the vision of “a community of caring societies”, while the chapter on “Challenges and Opportunities of Regional Integration” corresponds to the vision of “partnership in dynamic development”.   The third chapter on ”Regional Cooperation” will discuss how joint action by countries through regional cooperation mechanisms can help in attaining these visions.

The use of the HDI and related data will provide the overview of trends, but the study will go deeper into what lies behind the numbers. In addition to the HDI (and related indices, viz.: Gender-related Development Index, and Human Poverty Index), other indicators will be identified to provide baseline and benchmark monitoring for the region’s performance and progress in attaining Vision 2020 in terms of human development.

It will look at the prospects and challenges of regional integration, especially its implications to human development and poverty reduction, and narrowing the development gaps within the region, particulary between the ASEAN- 5 and the others (Mekong countries and East Timor).  In doing so, it will develop specific and selected indicators that measure intra-regional gaps, and regional performance as a whole compared to global and other sub-regions in Asia benchmarks and averages.

It will also look at mechanisms of regional cooperation and capacities of such mechanisms to promote and move forward with the agenda of cooperation for the region particularly in addressing key challenges and issues.

Objectives  

• To measure progress on human development in Southeast Asia based on globally established benchmarks based on the Millennium Development Goals as defined in the Millennium Declaration, and present a comparative analysis of progress of the sub-region and in each of the countries in relation to the Millennium Development Goals and targets, and global human development achievements;

• To generate lessons and examples on best practices to hasten and sustain the advances made by the countries in the region;

• To provide policy recommendations that will be useful to the governments and peoples of Southeast Asia including proposals on how regional cooperation can be used to narrow gaps among them;

• To provide tools for policy analyses, enrich sub-regional databases, and enhance the comparability of statistical systems and reporting; and

• To provide a venue for the wider participation of the academe, research institutions, and civil society in policy discussions on regional or sub-regional issues.