1.     The Third ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Youth was convened on 2 November 2000, preceded by the Senior Officials Meeting on Youth held from 30 to 31 October 2000, in Yangon, Myanmar.

2.     The Meeting was officially opened by His Excellency Lt. General Khin Nyunt, Secretary-1 of the State Peace and Development Council of the Union of Myanmar, and Chairman of the ASEAN Steering Committee of Myanmar.

3.     In his Keynote Speech, Lt. General Khin Nyunt pointed out that the process of globalisation had become an undeniable fact of life and that nations were more now more integrated and more interdependent than ever before. He urged the ASEAN Youth Ministers to design appropriate policies that would prepare and empower the ASEAN youth to develop their competencies and skills to meet these challenges posed by globalisation.

4.     Lt. General Khin Nyunt also emphasised that the developing nations, while enjoying opportunities for prosperity and development, could also face the prospect of being marginalized in the process of globalisation. He noted that the real challenge was that of bridging the development divide between the rich and poor within the nation as well as between nations. Finally, he encouraged the Ministers to assist in contributing toward closer regional integration by enhancing cooperation in youth and education sectors.

5.     The Meeting was attended by H.E. Pehin Dato Hj. Awang Hussain bin Pehin Dato Haji Awang Mohd. Yusof, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports of Brunei Darussalam, H.E. Mr. Nou Muth, Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Kingdom of Cambodia, H.E. Mr. Zainal Arifin, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, H.E. Mr. Bounpone Bouttanavong, Secretary-General of the Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, H.E. Dato' Hishammuddin bin Tun Hussein, Minister of Youth and Sports of Malaysia, H.E. Major-General Sein Htwa, Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement of the Union of Myanmar, H.E. Ms. Mabel P. Villarica-Mamba, Presidential Advisor on Youth Affairs and Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Commission of the Republic of the Philippines, H.E. Mr. David T.E. Lim, Minister of State for Defence, and Information & the Arts, and Chairman of the National Youth Council of Singapore, H.E. Mrs. Panit Nitithanprapas, Permanent Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office of Thailand, H.E. Mr. Vu Trong Kim, Chairman of the National Committee on Youth of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Hon. Mr. Tran Duc Minh, Deputy Secretary-General of the ASEAN Secretariat, and their respective delegations.

6.     H. E. Major-General Sein Htwa, Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement of the Union of Myanmar, and H.E. Ms. Mabel P. Villarica-Mamba were unanimously elected Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the Meeting, respectively.

7.     As host of the Third ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Youth, Major-General Sein Htwa extended a warm welcome to the Ministers and their delegations. He recalled the successive progress achieved by the ASEAN Youth Ministers since their first meeting in 1992. In his statement, Major-General Sein Htwa noted that Myanmar had joined hands with other ASEAN countries and had worked diligently to achieve the vision and policies laid down by ASEAN thirty years ago. He also emphasized that for the achievement and development to be sustainable, systematic nurturing of the youth is a "must" as the future lies in their hands.

8.     Major-General Sein Htwa also officiated at the launching of the Youth@ASEAN Webpage, which provided a regional overview of ASEAN cooperation in youth matters, as well as comprehensive information on existing resources, programmes and activities carried out by Member Countries. The Ministers welcomed the launching of the Youth@ASEAN Webpage and expressed appreciation to Singapore for leading the initiative to develop the Webpage and hyperlink it to existing national homepages and the ASEAN Secretariat homepage. The Youth@ASEAN Webpage can be accessed at www.aseanyouth.org.

9.     The Ministers shared views and experiences on efforts undertaken individually and collectively to strengthen and develop the capacities of the youth in ASEAN Member Countries. 

Yangon 2000 Declaration on Preparing ASEAN Youth For The Challenges of Globalisation 

10.    The Ministers expressed their commitment to provide opportunities to prepare and empower the region's youth to meet the increasing opportunities and challenges created by globalisation, taking into account their capacities, potentials and vulnerabilities. 

11.    In the light of the rapid changes taking place in ASEAN as a result of regional economic integration, the trends of trade liberalisation and globalisation, and the renewed focus of priorities in youth human resources development as called for by the Ha Noi Plan of Action, among other important documents relevant to the intensification of regional cooperation in youth matters, the Ministers reiterated their commitment and determination to nurture a resilient and responsible ASEAN youth who could contribute significantly to ASEAN's prosperity and progress in the new millennium, particularly in addressing the challenges of rapid global and regional integration.

12.    To this end, they adopted the Yangon 2000 Declaration on Preparing ASEAN Youth For the Challenges of Globalisation,, outlining the future course of action to be charted in strengthening internal capacities to inculcate a sense of ASEAN awareness and identity among the ASEAN youth and to equip them with the necessary skills and capabilities to meet the challenges of globalisation.

13.    To realise the strategies outlined in the Declaration, the Ministers tasked their Senior Officials to seek ways and means to implement regional activities particularly through cost-sharing and the utilisation of existing resources and capacities available in Member Countries. 

14.    The Ministers also noted that the Yangon 2000 Declaration on Preparing ASEAN Youth for the Challenges of Globalisation also took into consideration the youth-related priorities stated in the UN Millennium Summit Declaration adopted by the UN Millennium Summit on 8 September 2000. 

15.    Regarding cooperation in youth development matters with countries in East Asia, the Ministers tasked their Senior Officials to identify on-going ASEAN activities that China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) could be invited to participate. In this regard, the Ministers agreed that China, Japan and the ROK could initially participate in ASEAN activities at the project level.

ASEAN Youth Projects

16.    The Ministers noted the progress in the implementation of the ongoing ASEAN projects in the field of youth cooperation and human resource development since the Second ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Youth held in Kuala Lumpur in November 1997.

17.    The Ministers noted with appreciation the efforts undertaken by the Country Coordinators to implement projects and activities under the respective priority areas of the Work Plan, and also noted that the priorities of the Kuala Lumpur Agenda on ASEAN Youth Development had been successfully addressed by the ASY Work Plan. They noted with satisfaction the completion of five projects under the Work Plan's programme areas on ASEAN Awareness, Family Values, Leadership Development, Skills Training for Out-of-School Youth, one ongoing annual activity under the Work Plan's programme area on ASEAN Awareness, and the endorsement of six projects for future implementation. In this regard, the Ministers requested their Senior Officials to review all ongoing and pending projects and prioritise implementation of pending projects based on availability of resources and the priorities set out by the Yangon 2000 Declaration on Preparing ASEAN Youth for the Challenges of Globalisation.

Elevation of the ASEAN Sub-Committee on Youth to Senior Officials Meeting on Youth

18.    The Ministers endorsed the recommendations of the Committee on Social Development (COSD) Ad Hoc Task Force on Enhancing the Effectiveness of the COSD and its Subsidiary Bodies to elevate the ASEAN Sub-Committee on Youth to a Senior Officials Meeting on Youth.

19.    Accordingly, the Ministers adopted the Terms of Reference for the Senior Officials Meeting on Youth which would take over the responsibilities of the ASEAN Sub-Committee on Youth, once the restructuring of the COSD had been approved by the 34th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in July 2001.