Human and social development is the ultimate goal of ASEAN's economic cooperative activities.  Thus, ASEAN continued to place high priority on its cooperation in science and technology, human resource planning, education, social welfare, and poverty eradication.  At the same time, ASEAN undertakes various initiatives to address the social impact of the recent economic and financial crisis.  These initiatives protect the vulnerable and marginalized segments of society by enabling them to have better access to social and economic opportunities that would in turn contribute to a better quality of life and greater productivity.

Science and Technology

Cooperation in science and technology is one of the most important areas of cooperation in ASEAN.  It aims to equip the region's human resources with knowledge to respond to the new challenges of economic modernization and globalization.  It also aims to strengthen the regional S&T base for greater economic competitiveness.

There are three major challenges for the S&T sector: (a) to design programmes to promote the quick integration of the new member countries into the mainstream of ASEAN S&T cooperation; (b) to assert S&T's wider role in the entire development process; and (c) to accelerate the pace of S&T development by improving project development and implementation strategies and ensuring more predictable financing of projects.

Four major meetings were held during the year - one informal S & T Ministerial Meeting, two meetings of the Committee on Science and Technology, and one Special Task Force Meeting to address the mandates of the Ha Noi Plan of Action.  The meetings resulted in a re-thinking of COST programmes and the most appropriate structure and mechanisms to carry out these programmes.  A review of the Terms of Reference of the Sub-Committees of COST is underway.

At the Informal Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers for Science and Technology on 7-8 April 2000, in Genting Highlands, Malaysia, it was agreed that ASEAN should intensify the development of the ASEAN Science and Technology Information Network (ASTNET) as a component of e-ASEAN, so that the full potential of the Internet could be harnessed for facilitating ASEAN cooperation in science and technology.  The Ministers also agreed to recommend the strengthening of the S&T unit in the ASEAN Secretariat.

To demonstrate ASEAN's commitment to S&T development and ensure that resources are available for projects and serve to attract external funding and assistance, ASEAN has entered into the Agreement on the Augmentation of the ASEAN Science Fund.  The ASEAN Science Fund will complement the other mechanisms being studied by COST under a project funded by the Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund.

Funds have been secured from the Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund of the G77 for conducting a feasibility study on the development of innovative systems for project management and revenue generation.  This study is the first step in improving the availability of financial support for S&T projects.

In support of the region's economic and social agenda, joint R&D projects in strategic and enabling technologies and their applications are proceeding.  For instance, the ASEAN-India Digital Archive (AIDA) project is a multi-lingual and multi-cultural archive consisting of fonts, text, voices, pictures and video clippings of common words, phrases or events from nine participating member countries and India.  It is available on both CD-ROM and the World Wide Web at http://www.nectec.or.th/sll/aida. The archive is useful in developing multimedia teaching and learning resources for ASEAN and Indian languages and cultures. 

The ASEAN project on quality assurance (QA) systems for fruits, implemented under the ASEAN-Australia Development Cooperation Programme, has been completed.  Through the project, food scientists and technologists in ASEAN participating countries successfully developed QA systems for postharvest handling and marketing of selected fresh fruits of economic significance to the region, as well as for their minimal processing. The fruits include dragon fruit, durian, jackfruit, harumanis mango and pineapple.

On postharvest handling and marketing of fruit, participating countries conducted an investigation of the total marketing system from growers to retailers.  The study enabled them to identify the major problems in quality assurance for which technology solutions can be offered.  Participating countries produced the following manuals: (a) Durian Quality Management Manual; (b) training posters on handling and marketing of Harumanis Mango; (c) a set of quality checks for acceptance at a packing house for jackfruit; and (d) quick analytical procedures for testing fruit quality.

As a result of the project, each participating country now has a core group of trained personnel with considerable understanding of QA systems, including the globally accepted standard technique of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP).  These personnel also benefit from informal networking with their similarly skilled colleagues throughout ASEAN, which the project has made possible.

These projects have helped increase the capabilities in ASEAN countries to provide processing and marketing systems which are sustainable and which ensure regularity and uniformity of food products.

The ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) continues to undertake R&D, training and production of short- and medium-term global and regional weather forecasts. The Centre also continues to disseminate various weather products to all ASEAN meteorological services (NMSs) hourly, daily, monthly, or as frequently as needed, through the existing global communication systems.

The services of the Centre have become more crucial in supporting the implementation of the Regional Haze Action Plan (RHAP). One such activity was the holding of training on the detection of land and forest fires using satellite data for ASEAN's meteorologists in September 1999.  This training programme enhanced the capability of NMSs in the region to do land and forest fire monitoring using data from NOAA Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite.

To keep ASEAN meteorologists abreast of rapid advances in meteorology, the ASMC conducted a training course on the interpretation and processing of weather satellite data in September 1999. With funding support from the World Meteorological Organization, the Centre continued its research attachment programme for ASEAN's meteorologists to conduct R&D activities and acquaint themselves with the modern equipments available at the Centre. In early 2000, two meteorologists from Brunei Darussalam were attached to the Centre.

The implementation of the ASEAN Network for Rapid Exchange of Strong Earthquake Data (ASNET-RESED) project has improved the capability of ASEAN national seismic centres to rapidly exchange data via the Internet on earthquakes with magnitudes of 5.5 or higher on the Richter scale.  This rapid earthquake data exchange will help ASEAN countries to assess potential attendant geologic hazards, such as tsunami. Through the project, all the national seismic centres have acquired computer hardware and software for the system and have undergone training.  The system is being tested to ensure its smooth operation in receiving and sending earthquake data at each national seismic centre, as well as in accessing a seismic data bank located at the Indonesian seismic center.  The data bank can be accessed at http://aeic.bmg.go.id.

The implementation of the Coastal Zone Environment and Resources Management Project resulted in the establishment of a National Environmental Resource Information Center (NERIC) in each of the seven participating member countries.  The NERICs are directly linked to the national agencies responsible for the management of the country's coastlines.   Specialized training programmes that used the latest IT techniques were conducted for data providers, NERIC staff and end users in coastal resource management to instill core skills for better research, planning and management of coastal zones.  A second component of the CZERMP produced national directories of coastal and marine data  (metadata) systems.  To demonstrate the power of metadata systems in resolving coastal zone management issues, in-country case studies were done.  The table below lists the case studies.  

Human Resource Development

Human Resource Planning

An ASEAN Regional Project on Human Resource Development Planning is under consideration.  The Project would maximize the contribution of human resource development planning in economic development through ensuring the availability of competent and skilled manpower and its efficient utilisation.  It will look into the feasibility of establishing a regional HRD planning and training institute for ASEAN countries for sharing available training resources and developing guidelines on labour market monitoring.  The project is expected to commence in the second half of 2000.

Labour and Employment

The 14th ASEAN Labour Ministers Meeting was convened in Manila from 11 to 12 May 2000, preceded by the 14th ASEAN Senior Labour Officials Meeting and the 7th Meeting of the ASEAN Sub-Committee on Labour Affairs.  The Ministers renewed ASEAN's commitment and determination to strengthen the social pillars of ASEAN by promoting the full potential and dignity of workers and addressing specific issues and concerns brought about by regional economic integration, trade liberalization and globalization.

In Manila, the Ministers adopted Vision and Mission statements outlining the future courses of action to be charted in the area of labour and employment directed at strengthening internal capacities to address social protection, employment generation, and enhanced tripartite consultation.

The Ministers tasked the Senior Labour Officials to implement a five-year work programme to address the following issues, as agreed at the 13th ALMM held in Yangon in May 1999: (a) sharing and exchange of experience and best practices in developing social protection and social security systems; (b) promoting tripartite cooperation through increased consultations among the social partners, in relation to economic restructuring, including strengthening of tripartite institutions and mediation/conciliation mechanisms; and (c) enhancing capacity for designing programs or policies on employment generation, focusing on active labour market policies and re-training.

In July 1999, the UNDP Resident Representative and the Secretary-General of ASEAN signed a programme document "Support to Monitor and Facilitate ASEAN Economic Recovery."  The ASEAN Secretariat is now working with the UNDP to formulate a work programme to respond to the labour and employment impact of the financial and economic crisis in ASEAN.  The programme will comprise: (a) sharing and exchange of experience and best practices in designing social protection and social security systems; (b) promoting tripartite cooperation; and (c) enhancing capacity for designing programmes on employment generation.  The work programme will aim to strengthen policies for social protection and social security; employment and income generation; and promotion of social dialogue/tripartite cooperation.

Occupational Safety and Health

ASEAN has agreed on four areas to operationalize the Plan of Action of the Occupational Safety and Health Network (OSHNET): information (coordinated by Thailand), training (Philippines), research (Indonesia), and standards (Malaysia).  Member Countries will compile information to be shared through the ASEAN-OSHNET homepage. The homepage will cover OSH standards, expertise and available services, information on available programmes, curricula and projects, OSH statistics, and case studies on major or unusual cases.  As host of the OSHNET Secretariat, Indonesia launched in February 2000 the ASEAN OSHNET homepage  (http://www.asean-oshnet.or.id.). 

Two project concepts are being developed into proposals for inclusion in the work plan for the programme area on research: A Study of Rice Dust Syndrome in ASEAN Countries (Malaysia); and Survey of Labour Protection Among Small and Medium-Scale ASEAN Enterprises (Viet Nam).  The work plan for the programme area on standards will include the formulation of ASEAN guidelines on the implementation of OSH management system and on the accreditation of OSH aspects within hospitals.  Dialogue Partners will be approached for possible collaboration in formulating ASEAN guidelines on the classification, labelling and packaging of hazardous chemicals.

Informal Sector

ASEAN is developing a Plan of Action on Informal Sector Development.  The Plan aims to address the need to develop a regional assessment of the informal sector in the region and, based on this assessment, to develop regional training programmes to promote employment, particularly self-employment, in the informal sector.  A directory of training programmes and research activities will be compiled to assist in the identification of possible options for resource-sharing at the regional level.

Skills Development

ASEAN continued to hold the skills competitions with a view to improving the skills of blue-collar workers.  This project contributes to the attainment of the HPA's mandate for the promotion of regional mobility and mutual recognition of technical and professional credentials and skills standards.  Expanding the scope of this activity can generate further collaboration, including exchanging information on training and certification requirements in Member Countries and moving on to the establishment of commonly recognised vocational and professional skills standards, thus facilitating greater mobility of labour across sectors and national boundaries.

An important initiative of the ASEAN Sub-Committee on Women was the pilot project on an ASEAN Network for Women in Skills Training funded by UNDP and the Canadian International Development Agency. The project sought to equip disadvantaged women in ASEAN with useful and marketable skills.  The expanded second phase will address the need for women's better access to opportunities for employment and skills enhancement.

Civil Service Matters

The 10th ASEAN Conference on Civil Service Matters (ACCSM) was held in Bangkok from 23 to 26 November 1999.  The ACCSM reaffirmed its commitment to develop effective, capable, accountable and responsive civil services in ASEAN by: (a) strengthening existing mechanisms for networking, mutual learning and sharing of experiences among members; (b) promoting and facilitating exchange of best practices and other public management information by enhancing the role of ASEAN Resource Centre as a provider of expertise in their respective areas of competencies; and (c) supporting initiatives to help ASEAN civil services develop and adopt cutting edge practices.

In addition to the activities of ACCSM, the individual Member Countries have taken lead roles in certain projects through their respective ASEAN Resource Centres.   Brunei Darussalam undertook a "Comparative Study in Information Technology in ASEAN Civil Services" and its findings would be presented at a seminar on "Managing Electronic Business in ASEAN Civil Service."  Indonesia's ASEAN Resource Centre (ARC) on Information Exchange conducted two workshops on civil service database development.  Malaysia's ARC for Case Studies has expanded its materials from 41 case studies in 1998 to over 60 at present.  It started conducting regular case writing workshops.  The Philippines hosted eight study visits to its Civil Service Commission since 1997.  Furthermore, it conducted an "ASEAN Seminar-Workshop on Test-Item Writing/Construction and Development".

Singapore conducted a workshop on "Creativity in the Knowledge Economy" and held a joint conference on "Public Sector Leadership."  Thailand conducted a seminar on "Leadership, Ethics and Public Sector Reforms," created a homepage for its ARC on Leadership Development and produced and circulated "A Compendium of ASEAN Civil Service Systems."  Viet Nam sent a team for a study tour to the Philippines on training management, recruitment and appointment. It has also completed an "ASEAN Workshop on Staffing and Remuneration Management in the Public Sector."  Viet Nam has set up an ARC on Personnel Management.

Social Development and Poverty Eradication

Protecting the Vulnerable: Women, Children and the Elderly

Trafficking in women is an area that is being addressed by the ASEAN Subcommittee on Women.  A project proposal is being formulated with a view to promoting collaboration among Member Countries in policy coordination and law enforcement.  Member Countries have agreed to submit data and information to Thailand, which is working out the project proposal. 

Related to, but different from, the issue of trafficking in women is violence against women, predominantly domestic violence.  There are two areas where regional cooperation can facilitate national action - developing data on incidence of family violence and expertise in providing counselling services for the victims of domestic violence.

In responding to the trafficking in children, ASEAN is developing a Plan of Action for the Protection of Children Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation, Pornography and Trafficking.   

A monitoring mechanism for the advancement of women in ASEAN has been developed by the ASEAN Sub-Committee on Women in the form of a regular publication.  The First Regional Report appeared in November 1996, and preparations are now under way for the publication of the Second Regional Report in mid-2000. 

In order to keep track of individual Member Countries' implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the 18th Meeting of the ASEAN Sub-Committee on Women (ASW) agreed that Member Countries would report on issues related to the implementation of the Convention.  The Sub-Committee urged the Member Countries to develop and propose activities and projects to further address the Ha Noi Plan of Action priorities on women.

In implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ASEAN has undertaken a joint initiative with UNICEF to update a previous regional study on the situation of the ASEAN child.  The updated study will focus on the importance of child protection and participation in the context of the CRC, to which all ASEAN Member Countries are signatories. 

Meanwhile, Member Countries continue to devote attention to early childcare and development.  An Expert Group Meeting was held in June 1999 to discuss a regional approach to the convergent aspects of education in and practices of early childcare and development.  A framework action plan has been drawn up for further discussion at a series of regional seminars, the first of which will be held in July 2000 in the Philippines, where future networking possibilities, sharing of regional resources and a proposed regional directory of agencies and resources related to early child care and development will be discussed.

To promote the welfare of the elderly, ASEAN shall strengthen the existing systems of family values to put in place the necessary measures to address the needs of the elderly.  Implementation of the ASEAN Work Programme on Community-Based Care for the Elderly is underway, particularly in the epidemiological assessment of needs and resources for frail and elderly people and the convening of the First Annual Seminar on Ageing.

The ASEAN Sub-Committee on Health and Nutrition (ASCH&N) is developing some aspects of the Work Programme.  An information-sharing workshop to develop a curriculum for training health workers in the region is one of them.

Youth Development

ASEAN cooperation in youth matters has gathered momentum since the Second ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Youth held in November 1997, which adopted the Kuala Lumpur Agenda on Youth Development.  Laos hosted the Eighth ASEAN Youth Day Meeting in August 1999.  Youth development will be further promoted in the following areas:  ASEAN awareness, science and technology, family values, sustainable development and rural youth, social responsibility, leadership development, skills training for out-of-school youth, and entrepreneurship.

Activities are also being developed to train the youth in financial management for self-employment, entrepreneurial capacities of ASEAN rural youth in agribusiness, and entrepreneurship skills in the export sector.  At the Eighth ASEAN Youth Day Meeting, the ASEAN Best Young Entrepreneur Award was presented to nine nominees from ASEAN Member Countries.

The ASEAN Secretariat continues to work with the Member Countries in organising an ASEAN Youth Cultural Festival for the Ninth ASEAN Youth Day celebrations (in collaboration with Myanmar), a workshop on training for youth work trainers (Thailand), and a seminar on urban youth work (Singapore).

Poverty Eradication

ASEAN continued the implementation of the Plan of Action on Social Safety Nets, which was put in place in 1998.  ASEAN has obtained external support for this work.  For instance, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) supported two activities related to social impact assessment and social safety nets design.   The project design document will identify best-practice models of social assessment methodologies, social protection measures and emergency social safety nets for sharing and dissemination, and capacity-building strategies for ASEAN social planners.  New Zealand has indicated interest in supporting projects about partnerships among the government, NGOs, and the private sector, and capacity building for people's organizations in the social development field. 

At their Second Meeting in February 2000, in Manila, the ASEAN Ministers on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication noted the importance of enhancing collaboration among the government, the community, the private sector, and the NGOs in efforts to address poverty issues.  The Ministers agreed that in order to further intensify ASEAN cooperation in sustainable rural development, the AMRDPE would create a network for direct communication among themselves and link national homepages to the ASEANWEB.  Mutual learning and sharing of best practices are expected to enhance the effectiveness of national efforts as well as foster greater ASEAN solidarity and advance the goals of regional integration.

HIV-AIDS Prevention and Control

Coordinated within the framework of ASEAN cooperation in health and nutrition, HIV/AIDS prevention and control in ASEAN is being addressed through the Medium-Term Work Programme to Operationalize the ASEAN Regional Programme on HIV/AIDS.  ASEAN is currently developing the AIDS Information and Research Reference Network with the assistance of UNAIDS, which has attended as observer the meetings of the ASEAN Task Force on AIDS.  UNAIDS has assisted ASEAN in creating an e-mail networking mechanism based in Thailand at the address: [email protected]

The ASEAN University Network

Since 1995, the ASEAN University Network has been promoting ASEAN studies, student and faculty exchange, collaborative research and information networking.  In supporting the establishment of ASEAN studies courses/programmes in member universities, a summary report on existing courses or programmes on ASEAN studies has been compiled to serve as a reference for the further development of  ASEAN studies programmes with a common regional course content. 

The AUN Workshop on ASEAN Studies Curriculum Developmentin June 1999 identified a list of core courses for an ASEAN studies programme at the post-graduate level, as well as a set of criteria for an ASEAN studies resource centre.    The AUN Board of Trustees has agreed that the core courses proposed by the ASEAN Studies Workshop could be the basis for the development of core modules for an ASEAN studies programme at the post-graduate level.   The AUN Secretariat has been requested to ensure that the development of the course outline also includes the historical and cultural dimensions in the evolution of ASEAN as a regional entity; and the obstacles, as well as the successes, on the path to regionalism.

At the undergraduate level, Universiti Malaya has offered an AUN ASEAN Studies Programme for the semester beginning 9 November 1999, with financial assistance covering 50 percent of tuition and accommodation for students from participating universities.  An inaugural course was carried out during the November 1999 to March 2000 semester.

The AUN Educational Forum has been held for two successive years.  It provided opportunities for interaction and exchange of experiences among students and faculty members of the AUN members.  Faculty exchange will be undertaken under the AUN Distinguished Professors Programme and will have an initial focus on ASEAN Studies. The 5th Meeting of the AUN Board of Trustees agreed to convene an AUN Quality Assurance Network (AUNQUANET) Task Force, consisting of administrators responsible for quality development in each member university.  Through the sharing and exchange of experience and best practices, the Task Force will work towards developing a common standard of quality.   

Networking with counterparts beyond the ASEAN region has also achieved considerable progress. The signing of the Financing Agreement between the AUN and the European Commission on 21 January 2000 established a framework of collaboration between ASEAN and European universities.   Collaborative projects are also being undertaken with the Republic of Korea and Japan.

One of the latest AUN initiatives is the concept of a virtual university.  An AUN seminar on information networking and IT development was hosted by the De La Salle University in Manila in March 2000 to explore this concept.  To complement this, an additional area of networking with fellow institutes is being explored.  The initiative for an ASEAN Virtual Engineering University Network, to be carried out by the Sub-Committee on Science and Technology Infrastructure and Resources Development (SCIRD), will complement the work of the AUN in this field.

Two initiatives have been proposed for implementation in ASEAN primary and secondary schools.  A sourcebook of teaching materials on ASEAN studies is being developed as a basic document. Part I of the sourcebook, "A Bibliography on ASEAN," was compiled with the assistance of an expert commissioned by the AUN.  The ASEAN Students Exchange Programme at the secondary level aims to improve understanding and appreciation of the educational, social, cultural and geopolitical life of ASEAN people, positive moral values, and important issues of common interest to ASEAN.  The Exchange Programme has been tentatively scheduled for July 2000, with the expected participation of 60 students, 16-17 years old, from all Member Countries.