The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN on 7 January 1984, followed by Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, Cambodia on 30 April 1999, and Timor-Leste on 26 October 2025 making up what is today the eleven Member States of ASEAN.
ASEAN organs always strive to achieve ASEAN’s goals and objectives, the Secretary-General of ASEAN and the ASEAN Secretariat shall be functioned as coordinating Secretariat to help facilitate effective decision-making withing and amongst ASEAN bodies. In addition, each Member State shall appoint a Permanent Representative to liaise with Secretary-General of ASEAN and the ASEAN Secretariat
ASEAN shall develop friendly relations and mutually beneficial dialogues, cooperation and partnerships with countries and sub-regional, regional and international organisations and institutions. This includes external partners, ASEAN entities, human rights bodies, non-ASEAN Member States Ambassadors to ASEAN, ASEAN committees in third countries and international organisations, as well as international / regional organisations.
The rodmap for an ASEAN Community (2009-2015) was declared by the leaders in 2009. The ASEAN Community, anchored on three community pillars: Political-Security Community, Economic Community, Socio-Cultural Community was launched in 2015. The ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together was introduced in 2015 as a Post-2015 Vision. It comprises the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, the ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint 2025, the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025 and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint 2025
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN on 7 January 1984, followed by Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, Cambodia on 30 April 1999, and Timor-Leste on 26 October 2025 making up what is today the eleven Member States of ASEAN.
ASEAN organs always strive to achieve ASEAN’s goals and objectives, the Secretary-General of ASEAN and the ASEAN Secretariat shall be functioned as coordinating Secretariat to help facilitate effective decision-making withing and amongst ASEAN bodies. In addition, each Member State shall appoint a Permanent Representative to liaise with Secretary-General of ASEAN and the ASEAN Secretariat
ASEAN shall develop friendly relations and mutually beneficial dialogues, cooperation and partnerships with countries and sub-regional, regional and international organisations and institutions. This includes external partners, ASEAN entities, human rights bodies, non-ASEAN Member States Ambassadors to ASEAN, ASEAN committees in third countries and international organisations, as well as international / regional organisations.
The rodmap for an ASEAN Community (2009-2015) was declared by the leaders in 2009. The ASEAN Community, anchored on three community pillars: Political-Security Community, Economic Community, Socio-Cultural Community was launched in 2015. The ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together was introduced in 2015 as a Post-2015 Vision. It comprises the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, the ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint 2025, the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025 and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint 2025
Overview
The region is home to a diverse population of persons with disabilities, ranging from children with disabilities, women with disabilities, and older persons with disabilities, with varying types of impairments and support requirements . Such intersectionalities of disabilities with sex, gen
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Overview
Major Sectoral Bodies/Committees Priority Areas of Cooperation Overview rural-development-and-poverty-eradictiontransparent600#0060a9 Major Sectoral Bodies/Committees Priority Areas of Cooperation Overview
Major Sectoral Bodies/Committees
In 1998, the ministers in-charge of rural development and poverty eradication from all ASEAN Member States gathered in Jakarta, Indonesia for the first time to discuss cooperation in the field of poverty eradication and rural development. The ministers emphasised the
Priority Areas of Cooperation
ASEAN underlines complementarities between the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 by developing the Complementarities Roadmap 2020-2025 which sets out priority areas of cooperation.
The Roadmap includes the development of evid
Overview
In the past two decades, ASEAN has seen a steady decline of poverty, from 47% in 1990 to 15% in 2015. However, it persists especially in the region’s rural areas . Poverty goes beyond a mere lack of income. It manifests through the inability to afford and access basic needs, such as food,
Rural Development and Poverty Eradiction
Major Sectoral Bodies/Committees
In 1975, ASEAN began to formalise its regional cooperation on women’s issues by convening the ASEAN Women Leaders’ Conference. A year later, the ASEAN Sub-Committee on Women (ASW) was founded and was later renamed the ASEAN Women’s Programme (AWP) in 1981. In 2
Priority Areas of Cooperation
The promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are consistent priorities of ASEAN. In achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, ASEAN upholds the rights and agency of women and children as agents of transformative cha
Overview
Women make up slightly over half the population in ASEAN and significant progress has been made for women and girls in the region especially on access to education, participation in the labour force, increased quality or reproductive health and widened space to express their voices and exer
