This ASEAN Guidance is intended to support policy makers, managers and members of the social service workforce in ASEAN Member States to strengthen the role of social workers and the wider social service workforce in and for social protection systems. The Guidance provides general information about the regional situation relating to the social service workforce in social protection and general recommendations on how to strengthen (plan, develop and support) this part of the overall social service workforce. This approach has been used because the national context relating to the social service workforce in social protection is so different in each ASEAN Member States. So the Guidance can be used by ASEAN Member States as the basis to develop more specific nationally relevant guidelines and action plans that can take into account the context of each country.