MAKATI CITY, 16 February 2025 – The 10th Meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group to Develop the ASCC Strategic Plan (AHWG) took place on 15-16 February in Makati City, Philippines. The meeting was co-chaired by Dr. Christina Yeo Ken Yin, Undersecretary of International Relations Division (Culture) at the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Malaysia, and Hannah A. Giray-Carcido, Assistant Bureau Director of the Policy Development and Planning Bureau, Department of Social Welfare and Development of the Philippines.
Atty. Adonis P. Sulit, Undersecretary for Policy and Plans of the Department of Social Welfare & Development and Senior Officials Committee for the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council (SOCA) Leader of the Philippines, delivered the welcome remarks and emphasised AHWG’s strong commitment to ensure an inclusive, consultative, and evidence-based approach in shaping the ASCC Strategic Plan. He underscored ASEAN’s commitment to fostering policies are responsive and participatory, and aligned with the evolving needs of the region.
In her opening remarks, Dr. Christina Yeo Ken Yin, stressed that the work of the AHWG does not stop with the submission of the ASCC Strategic Plan. She emphasised that their efforts in ensuring the implementation and monitoring of the ASCC Strategic Plan will continue with the development of the ASCC Post-2025 results framework.
This was echoed by Hannah A. Giray-Carcido who underscored the importance of the upcoming phase of the development of the Strategic Plan which would further advance the commitment of the AHWG in operationalising the ASCC Strategic Plan through coherent and well-defined indicators.
The meeting finalised the 2nd draft of the ASCC Strategic Plan by deliberating on the inputs from ASCC and relevant cross-pillar sectoral bodies, noting their concurrence and support to the provisionally agreed strategic measures. The meeting also exchanged views on the endorsement process of the ASCC Strategic Plan by SOCA in March.
Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASCC San Lwin expressed his appreciation to the AHWG for their efforts in finalising the 2nd Draft which ensures its timely submission to the HLTF-ACV. He expressed confidence in the strong commitment and participation of the AHWG in the next phase of the ASCC Strategic Plan development.
This meeting is part of ongoing activities to support the development of the ASCC Post-2025 Strategic Plan Project funded by the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) 3.0.
Image credits: ASEAN Secretariat and Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism of the Lao PDR
