Social Development

CSPS was appointed the national consultant to undertake the study on Women Development in Brunei Darussalam. The objectives of the Project are to complement national data collection and identify gaps with international data submissions, to identify current and prevalent challenges as well as opportunities for women in Brunei Darussalam and to further their development, and to support the development of a National Plan of Action on Women under the National Council on Social Issues through the formulation of polices or program towards greater equity for women in Brunei Darussalam.

This study aims to (i) provide a critical review of existing official statistics on theft offenses; (ii) identify the reasons for common theft offenses in Brunei Darussalam; and (iii) devise general policy recommendations for the Ad Hoc Committee to reduce theft in the country.

This study is ongoing.

This project is a national Mid-Term Review covering the first five years of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASSC) Blueprint (2016-2020) to monitor the implementation progress of the Blueprint’s activities and assess its outcomes.

The review covers 15 Sectoral Bodies under the ASCC Pillar: culture, information, education, youth, sports, health, social welfare and development, women and gender, rights of the women and children, labour, civil service, rural development and poverty eradication, environment and transboundary haze, and disaster management.

Overall, the national assessment indicates that Brunei Darussalam has made good progress throughout the years 2016-2020 and several recommendations to improve the implementation of the ASCC Blueprint have been proposed.

This project is the second study that measures the level of youth development in Brunei using national and international metrics.

A nationwide survey covering 2,403 youths was conducted which included a needs analysis that measured the level of youth development covering 8 domains: self-development; leisure activities; health; self-potential; community integration; social issues; political integration; and employment opportunity.

The findings show that our youth development level did not meet the well-developed or ‘Very Good’ quartile, with an average Youth Development Index (YDI) score of 65.1 or ‘Good’ only. To meet Wawasan Brunei 2035 targets of high standards of living, the government should aim to achieve an overall YDI of ‘Very Good’ (score of 75 and above).

This study assesses the risks and opportunities experienced by Bruneian children in internet use.

Results from a survey of 308 children show that children have their own smartphones and access the internet at a young age, engage in risk-prone activities more than seeking learning and development opportunities, possess low levels of digital and coping skills, and receive little mediation from parents, teachers, and peers.

The study emphasises the need for strategies to empower children with better self-management and coping skills, empower parents, guardians, and teachers to be more aware of educating in protection children, and government agencies to monitor the situation.

This study identifies common and emerging patterns of social problems among youth between 15 to 26 years old and determined the main causes of such behaviours.

National surveys consisting of 2,868 youth respondents and 152 in-depth interviews with at-risk groups were conducted. Nine categories of social problems are studied: truancy; violence and public disorder; drugs, substance abuse and trafficking; vandalism; theft; sexual deviation; personal safety; bully, exploitation and abuse; and financial hardship. A Social Problems Index (SPI) was formulated to measure the severity of each problem.

The findings show that financial hardship was the most serious problem (39%), followed by violence and public disorder (33%), truancy (29%) and bully, exploitation and abuse (22%). Although Brunei’s SPI is not as high as other countries, the study notes that the SPI is not satisfactory in the local context and has reached a level where immediate policy attention is required.

This project reviews the implementation of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Blueprint at the national level for the period January 2009 to December 2012 by 14 sectoral bodies. Project implementation was assessed in terms of relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, sustainability, score card, public relations, and communication.

At the end of the time frame, Brunei had implemented 161 out of the total 339 (47%) action lines of the ASCC Blueprint. The main recommendations made in the study include: (i) An implementation plan at different time frames – the immediate time frame, by 2015 and beyond 2015 and (ii) for the ASEAN Secretariat to devise a more robust monitoring mechanism and devise standardised templates in place to help with the monitoring and evaluation process.

This national review is part of the Mid-Term Review of the ASCC Blueprint (2009-2015) which was adopted by the ASEAN Leaders at the 23rd ASEAN Summit.