#ThrowbackThursday | There is much talk now on the forthcoming ASEAN integration set to happen next year. Nearly a decade ago, in late 2006, while representing the Philippines at the multilateral coordination meeting held at the ASEAN Headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia, I had the rare privilege of co-drafting one of the three Main Outcome Documents of the 12th ASEAN Summit held in 2007 in Cebu, Philippines, the Cebu Declaration Toward One Caring and Sharing Community. I authored the provision on the role of young peoples in the establishment of an ASEAN Community by the year 2015 and in the realization of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (UN MDGs), also in the same year. This provision was included in the final version of the Cebu Declaration signed by the ten ASEAN Heads of State and Government present at the 12th ASEAN Summit, including Philippine President Arroyo, Brunei Sultan Bolkiah, et. al. Its truly an honor to have lobbied for the recognition and institutionalization of the youths role in achieving an ASEAN Community, and to eventually succeed in writing the provision that enshrines it in a piece of international policy, one that guides not just governments but peoples to a common goal, a united aspiration of a stronger and more progressive ASEAN region. Top photo: Convening the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Coordinating Conference at the headquarters of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Jakarta, Indonesia. Bottom photo: At the dignitaries lounge of the airport in Jakarta with fellow Philippine officials comprising our countrys delegation. Seated are yours truly, former DSWD Secretary Lina Laigo, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Ambassador Luis Cruz.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 11:48:09 +0000
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