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ASEAN seeks youth engagement to build regional identity
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Youth engagement -- ASEAN deputy secretary general for the ASEAN socio-cultural community Vongthep Arthakaivalvatee.
(JP/Liza Yosephine)
T
he ASEAN Secretariat is striving to develop an integrated education system for youth from countries across Southeast Asia in an effort to achieve a unified ASEAN identity. It is hoped this effort can help marry the ASEAN Vision 2025 with the UN’s 2030 Agenda, a top ASEAN Secretariat official has said.
"[The ASEAN community's] integration process is not only an economic and political-security one, but also a people-to-people form of integration and connectivity. So, we have to enhance education," ASEAN deputy secretary general for the ASEAN socio-cultural community Vongthep Arthakaivalvatee told The Jakarta Post.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a symposium on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development hosted by the ASEAN Secretariat, the Chinese Mission to ASEAN and the UNDP in Jakarta on Monday.
Arthakaivalvatee emphasized the importance of education in realizing youth engagement and encouraging tolerance across the region. He said the secretariat envisioned a framework that set benchmarks for education and student mobility across member nations.
"We recognize that the next generation is crucial, perhaps indispensable, in building the foundation for ASEAN integration," Arthakaivalvatee said.
He further said the blueprint for ASEAN Vision 2025 complimented the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Arthakaivalvatee said China had performed admirably in achieving the UN Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. As one of the bloc’s dialogue partners, China will play a crucial role in exchanging lessons learned, he went on to say. (ebf)
