KUALA LUMPUR, 24 September 2021 – Senior officials for youth development from ASEAN Member States (AMS) came together at the Eleventh Senior Officials Meeting on Youth (SOMY-XI), joined by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Japan, and Republic of Korea (ROK) at the Tenth ASEAN Plus Three Senior Officials Meeting on Youth (10th SOMY+3).
One of SOMY-XI highlights was the handover of chairmanship from Lao PDR to Malaysia. Director General of the International Relations and Cooperation of Lao Youth Union Somkiao Kingsada transferred the role to Ramona Mohammad Razali, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Malaysian Ministry of Youth and Sports. Malaysia launched ‘Mental Health Matters – You Are not Alone’ as the theme of their Chairmanship.
On his part, Deputy Director-General of the Myanmar Department of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Aung Kyaw Moe delivered remarks to welcome the assumption of Myanmar’s SOMY Vice-Chairmanship.
Reflecting on the completion of the ASEAN Work Plan on Youth 2016-2020, along with its lessons learnt and best practices, senior officials revisited the priority areas, programmes and activities of ASEAN Work Plan on Youth 2021-2025 endorsed by the body in August 2021. Upon completion of the ongoing development of its monitoring and evaluation framework, the Work Plan will reach the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Youth to be considered for adoption.
Consistent with commitments under the 2021-2025 Work Plan, AMS and the ASEAN Secretariat updated the Meeting on their respective flagship initiatives, including the ASEAN Research Study on Youth’s Mental Health by the Institute for Youth Research Malaysia (IYRES); preparations for the second iteration of the ASEAN Youth Development Index with the UNFPA; as well as key youth initiatives under Brunei Darussalam’s 2021 ASEAN Chairmanship and Cambodia’s forthcoming 2022 ASEAN Chairmanship.
At the Open Session, representatives from the Committee for ASEAN Youth Cooperation (CAYC), the ASEAN Foundation, the ASEAN-Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (ASEAN-IPR), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), UN Agencies under the Asia-Pacific Interagency Network on Youth (APINY), the ASEAN University Student Council Union (AUSCU), ASEAN Youth Forum (AYF) and Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) shared ongoing and forthcoming activities relevant to the 2016-2020 and 2021-2025 Work Plans.
Youth representatives shared their experience in community projects on school safety, climate action, and health promotion in the digital era.
In its first interface with the SOMY, ADI shared flagship activities and potential collaborative actions with SOMY, including the ten signs of dementia which has been translated to ASEAN languages and youth volunteerism in addressing dementia among the elder population in the context of fostering 21st century skills and intergenerational collaboration.
Meanwhile, at the 10th SOMY+3 youth sector senior officials from the PRC, Japan and ROK gathered to discuss collaborations on people-to-people exchange, including initiatives under the ASEAN Plus Three Work Plan on Youth 2021-2025.
Director General [LI1] for the Japanese International Youth Exchange of the Cabinet Office Kurose Toshifumi officially handed over the Co-Chairmanship of Japan to ROK. Assistant Minister of ROK Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Lee Jung Shim, presided over the meeting alongside the Chairperson of Malaysia.
AMS and the Plus Three Countries exchanged updates on key initiatives on youth which contributes to the ASEAN Plus Three Work Plan on Youth 2021-2025 endorsed by the SOMY+3.
Japan’s updates included the re-designing of Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS) Programme and Ship for Southeast Asian and Japanese Youth Program (SSEAYP) into virtual formats, while ROK shared updates on the 9th ASEAN-Korea Frontier Forum and ASEAN-Korea Youth Summits. Meanwhile, PRC shared its experience and achievements on youth empowerment for COVID-19 recovery.
Malaysia announced the convening of the 12th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Youth (AMMY-XII) back-to-back with the 8th AMMY+3 and senior officials meetings in 2022.
The ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Youth (AMMY) was established in 1992 in Jakarta, followed by the establishment of SOMY in 2002 as a regional body consisting of national agencies responsible for youth development.
