ASEAN is a region that celebrates youth and their dynamism. 34 percent of ASEAN’s population consists of young people, aged between 15 and 34 years old. Promoting ASEAN awareness, values and identity amongst youth means laying the foundations of peace and stability in the region. Furthermore, encouraging ASEAN youth participation and engagement in regional development will create more opportunities for them to contribute to the realisation of ASEAN Community Vision 2025. In this light, youth development has always been central to the work of ASEAN.

ASEAN considers preparing its young people to become ‘future-ready’ through skills development and increasing their participation in policy discourse as its main priorities for the period 2021-2025. To embrace opportunities and address challenges, ASEAN seeks to foster innovative thinking among its youth to harness their ideas in creating solutions for regional development. To this end, youth cooperation in ASEAN is structured around the five (5) domains of the ASEAN Youth Development Index (YDI), namely: (i) Education; (ii) Health and Well-Being; (iii) Employment and Opportunities; (iv) Participation and Engagement; and (v) ASEAN Awareness, Values and Identity.