Policies and decisions taken now by individual countries and ASEAN as a whole can propel Southeast Asia toward greater prosperity grounded in human rights and genuine gender equality — helping fulfill the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) whose collective pledge is to leave no one behind.

Or, amid the growing tendency toward conservatism, and in some cases violent extremism, gains made in improving the health and fulfilling the rights of women and young people — especially girls — could be eroded.

These opportunities and challenges are reflected across the 2016-2020 Plan of Action to Implement the Joint Partnership between ASEAN and the United Nations, the focus of a high-level meeting between ASEAN and UN agencies in Jakarta this week.

The pillars of this plan include cooperation on the political, security, economic, socio-cultural, environmental, social welfare and public health fronts — across which the aspirations of the UN Charter and other key instruments that underpin the UN’s work are alluded to.

From our perspective at UNFPA, the plan of action contains clear commitments that reflect our vision of a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, every young person’s potential is fulfilled — and where everyone counts.

Family planning and sexual and reproductive health is a barometer of ASEAN’s success

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