ASEAN considers social welfare and development as a key strategy to promote human development and sustainable development. Strengthening social welfare and development particularly for vulnerable and groups is paramount to reduce poverty.

Through high-level political declarations and regional action plans and frameworks, ASEAN promotes the welfare and empowerment of all children, persons with disabilities, older persons and other vulnerable groups by safeguarding their rights, protecting them from abuse, violence, discrimination and exploitation, and ensuring their meaningful participation in society.

More importantly, ASEAN upholds the critical role of all children, persons with disabilities, older persons, and those who are vulnerable and as agents of change and as a resource to chart their own development. This is undertaken by strengthening and expanding multi-stakeholder engagements, and multi-pronged and multi-sectoral approach in advancing social welfare and development agenda at the regional, national and community level.

Development of evidence-based studies and action researches, as well as guidelines on promoting the welfare of children, persons with disabilities, older persons and other vulnerable and groups.

Establishment of various regional knowledge platforms to exchange good practices and engage children, older persons, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups in strategic and substantive policy discussions.

In addressing issues of vulnerabilities in the region, ASEAN adopts an integrated and comprehensive life-cycle and system-based approach. This will enable policy and programme initiatives to articulate intersectionalities and underlying vulnerabilities in order to develop responsive interventions. ASEAN initiates and develops inclusive and participatory consultation mechanisms with various stakeholders which includes interface meetings with relevant agencies and institutions working in the area of social welfare and development, and target beneficiaries through the regional platforms to ensure that regional initiatives are developed to, by and for the ASEAN peoples.