This book is the culmination of four years of work, during which time the institutional structures for human rights in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region changed dramatically, and for the better, I believe, despite what critics might say.

While it is true that the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) is not yet a fully fledged commission that promotes and protects human rights according to international standards in this region, I believe that this will change in time. ASEAN peoples are becoming more aware of human rights, and civil societies are now more dynamic and vibrant. Even within the ASEAN states themselves, slowly but surely, government officials are becoming less wary and more accepting of and familiar with human rights and its modalities. I believe that in time to come, with generational and internal transformation, human rights will one day take root as part of ASEAN's identity. It will doubtlessly be a long process with many obstacles along the way but it will come about.

Through the course of my research into the evolution of human rights in the ASEAN region and my participation in the Track 2 and 3 processes on the subject matter, I have discovered much in which to keep faith. This is primarily the many human rights proponents comprising civil society actors, academics, and state officials who have worked and are still working tirelessly to bring about a comprehensive human rights system in the ASEAN region, both within their national societies as well as in ASEAN as a whole.