The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) worked alongside UNICEF and the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance to develop seven regional guidance documents to support policymakers, managers and members of the social service workforce and allied sectors in ASEAN member states to design and deliver quality social work services.  The guidance is intended to support the operationalization of the 2020 Ha Noi Declaration on Strengthening Social Work Towards Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN Community and its accompanying Road Map, which highlighted the need for laws, policies and strategies to define and strengthen the roles and competencies of social workers and other social service workforce in key sectors.

Each document provides technical guidance to ASEAN Member States on the key roles and functions of social workers, and other social service workers, if they are deployed and supported in different sectors and different situations, whether that be in health facilities or schools or in preventing and addressing violence, and in helping people and communities prepare for and reduce the impact of the climate crisis and natural disasters. They also serve as a reference point for developing legislation, policies and tools to deliver quality social work services.