With regard to the proposed establishment of an ASEAN Social Development Fund (ASDF), COSD, having noted the bleak prospects of getting contributions from Dialogue Partners, agreed to undertake further consultations with relevant national authorities regarding contributions to the ASDF. COSD also agreed to look into the possibility of cost- sharing arrangements for projects and agreed to discuss the matter further at the next COSD meeting.
Pending the outcome of various meetings in preparation for the Fifth ASEAN Summit, COSD agreed to recommend that the ASEAN Family be highlighted in the Fifth Summit declaration and programme of action.
The ASEAN Secretariat recommendations for improving the format and structure of future COSD Meetings, streamlining, the agenda, and providing more substance to the discussions, were adopted by COSD. The changes will involve not only the structure of the agenda but also the role of the sub-committee chairpersons and the ASEAN Secretariat, starting from the 20th, COSD Meeting to be held in 1996.
The 11th Meeting of the ASEAN Sub- Committee on Youth (SAY) was held in Phuket, Thailand, from 3 to 5 May 1994.
Six new projects were approved by the Second Meeting of the 28th ASEAN Standing Committee held in Jakarta in November 1994, for funding by JAEP: (1) ASEAN Youth Aid Workshop coordinated by the Philippines; (2) Seminar on ASEAN Youth Information coordinated by Indonesia; (3) ASEAN Environmental Youth Camp coordinated by Philippines; (4) Preparing ASEAN Youth for a Better Life through Cooperative Business Activities coordinated by Indonesia; 5) Handicraft Workshop for ASEAN Youth (11) coordinated by Thailand; and, 6) ASEAN Workshop on Youth and Tourism (11 and 111). The allocation of JAEP funds for these projects was approved by the JAEP Management Committee Meeting held in January 1994 in Jakarta. The ASEAN Youth Entrepreneurship Project was approved by the Third Meeting of the 28th ASC held in January 1995 in Jakarta and is now awaiting the allocation of funds from JAEP.
During the period under review, the following five projects were implemented with funding support from the Japan- ASEAN Exchange Programme:
With respect to the project on ASEAN Directory of Non-Government Youth Organizations, the Philippines, as project coordinator, distributed a copy of the draft ASEAN Directory of NGO Youth Organizations to Member Countries at the 11th ASY Meeting. The draft directory provides an extensive listing of ASEAN youth organizations with detailed information on current activities, programmes and contact details.
The 13th Meeting of the ASEAN Women's Programme (AWP) was held in Bangkok from I to 3 August 1994. At this Meeting, the AWP agreed to endorse the following documents:
In connection with the Guidelines to Operationalize the Declartion on the Advancement of Women in the ASEAN Region , the ASEAN Secretariat, as part of its activities under the UNDP ASP-5 Sub- programme on Human Development, has worked on the development of a Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism to assess the Status of Implementation of the Declaration on the Advancement of Women in the ASEAN Region. A two-day training workshop to prepare the initial draft status report on the implementation of the Declaration was held i. Jakarta in July 1995 involving participants from the national focal points for women and the national clearinghouse for women in development or the national statistical data-gathering agency in the ASEAN Member Countries. Once the project is completed a training workshop will be held 'In Jakarta involving participants from the national focal points for women in the ASEAN Member Countries.
During the period under review the following two projects were completed: (1) Joint Publication Programme on ASEAN Clearinghouses on Women in Development; ad (2) Training on the Use of CDS/ ISIS for ASEAN Clearinghouses on Women in Development.
The joint Publication Programme on ASEAN Clearinghouses was coordinated b Indonesia as an offshoot of an Experts Group Meeting held in October 1992 in Jakarta. The publication provided target groups at the national, regional and international levels with an overview of ASEAN Clearinghouses on Women in Development activities.
The Training on the Use of CDS/ISIS for ASEAN Clearinghouses on Women in Development was held in October 1994 at the Asian Institute of Technology(AIT), Thailand, sponsored by Canada and technically supported by AIT. The Training Course was designed to develop a common database on Women in Development which can be exchanged in machine readable form using the CDS/ ISIS software.
"The Publication on the Status of ASEAN Women", a project being coordinated b, the Philippines was completed in 1995. The publication was an offshoot of a Workshop on Indicators and Statistics on Women held in 1993 in Jakarta ad funded by, CIDA.
The project, document for a pending project, RAS/95/200 ASEAN Network for Women in Skills Training, was signed on 1 May 1995 by the Secretary-General of ASEAN, on behalf of the ASEAN Governments, the UNDP Resident Representative in Jakarta, and the Director of the ILO Office in Jakarta. The cost-sharing agreement for the project involving a total budget cost of US$ 508,166 (excluding administrative and operational services) was signed in December 1994 by CIDA Singapore and by UNDP Jakarta in January 1995. The project is now ready for implementation.
The 13th AWP Meeting endorsed the participation of Vietnam and Laos as Observers at the 14th Meeting of the ASEAN Women's Programme (AWP), Bangkok, 4-6 May 1995.
The 12th Meeting of the ASEAN Sub- Committee on Health and Nutrition (ASCH & N) was held in Bangkok from 21 to 23 September 1994.
ASCH & N also agreed to invite Vietnam and Laos as Observers to its future meetings. The Sub-Committee also endorsed the participation of Vietnam and Laos as Observers in the on-going project Technical Cooperation in Pharmaceuticals Among ASEAN Countries - Phase IV. The project aims at strengthening the pharmaceuticals sector consistent with the objectives of the WHO Action Programme on Essential Drugs. It is funded by WHO and the Japan Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers Association.
The project, "ASEAN Workshop on Quality Management of Health Services", was held from 23 to 27 January 1995 in Indonesia with funding from JICA. The workshop aims to establish a network for quality improvement in health care among ASEAN countries to facilitate implementation of programmes on the provisions of basic health care, hospital services and operation of referral systems.
The ASEAN Sub-Committee on Education (ASCOE) implemented a Seminar-cum-Workshop on Value Education in ASEAN held in Kuala Lumpur from 11 to 15 July 1994 with JAEP funding. The seminar came up with a number of recommendations such as co-curricular exchange programmes, regional seminars/ workshops and networking mechanisms.
Under the UNDP ASP-5 Sub- Programme on Human Development, a Work Programme on Strengthening ASEAN University Networking was developed by the ASEAN Secretariat. The Work Programme, the proposed Charter and Agreement on the Establishment of an ASEAN University Network were discussed at an ASEAN Experts Group Meeting on ASEAN University Networking held in April 1995 in Bangkok and will be finalised at the Third ASCOE Meeting scheduled to be held in Hune 1995. The draft five-year Work Programme consists of project, on the establishment of the ASEAN University Network structure, student exchange programmes, scholarship/fellowship programmes, information networking and cooperative research programmes.
A Workshop on Developing Educational Software is awaiting implementation in 1995. Funding for this project as approved by the ASEAN-ROK JMC in August 1994. Another project, "Development of Computer Education for Schools in the ASEAN Region", was approved by the Third Meeting of the 28th ASC and submitted to ROK for funding consideration.
The ASEAN Labour Ministers held an informal meeting in Chiang Mai from 27 to 28 April 1995. The Ministers noted the decision of the ILO Governing Body�s Working Party to suspend any further discussion of the link between international trade and social standards through a sanctions-based social clause mechanism. Nonetheless, the Ministers expressed concern that some developed countries and International Trade Secretariats may still pursue the issue through other means including the imposition of conditionalities to GSA privileges, WTO negotiations and other international fora. They also expressed concern at the attempts to se labour standards to interfere in the internal affairs of developing countries.
The Ministers welcomed the position and endorsed the, Declaration and Programme of Action adoped by the Fifth Conference of the Labour Ministers of Non- Aligned and other Developing Countries held in January 1995 in New Delhi to oppose any linkage of international trade with the enforcement of labour standards.
The Ministers reaffirmed that they are not opposed to the application of standards and are committed to improving the economic and social well-being of workers. They urged the ILO to adopt a more flexible approach in the application of these standards. They also renewed their call on the ILO to undertake a review of outdated labour standards, taking into account the evolving social and economic conditions of both the developing and developed countries.
The Ministers reviewed the status of ASEAN labour projects and expressed satisfaction with the progress of funding allocation for a number of activities to be implemented under the UNDP ASP-5 Sub- Programme on Human Development. The Ministers also noted that the concept paper for a project proposal adopted by the Tenth ASEAN Labour Ministers Meeting held in May 1994 in Singapore, entitled "ASEAN Regional Project on Human Resources Development Planning", was submitted to Japan for funding consideration at the 14th ASEAN-Japan Forum held in Bangkok from 18 to 19 January 1995.
An on-going project, "ASEAN Newsletter on Disaster Management Information Network (ANDIN)", is being coordinated by Malaysia, with funding from JAEP.
The Second Meeting of the ASEAN Task Force on AIDS was held in Kuala Lumpur from 14 to 16 June 1994. At the Meeting, Member Countries reported a continued increase in the number of HIV cases in the 20-39 age group- the age group which constitutes the highest proportion of the workforce in ASEAN. Apart from Malaysia, where the largest number of cases were from intravenous drug users, most cases of HIV infection in ASEAN were contracted through heterosexual contact.
In order to supplement the national efforts of Member Countries to address the HIV/AIDS problem, the Task Force on AIDS adopted a proposal initiated by the ASEAN Secretariat regarding the preparation of a detailed work programme to operationalize an ASEAN Regional Programme on HIV/AIDS. The work programme is now being prepared by the ASEAN Secretariat assisted by an expert commissioned by the WHO and will be discussed and reviewed by an ASEAN Academic and Research Experts Group Meeting to be held later in 1995, with funding also from WHO.
In addition, two activities are in the pipeline with funding from the UNDP ASP- 5 Sub-Programme on Human Development to be implemented in 1995-96. These are (1) the Preparation of Guidelines for Government/NGO/Community Collaboration in AIDS Education, Prevention, and Treatment; and (2) a Regional Forum on Government-NGO Collaboration on Combatting the AIDS Problem.
In order to ensure effective coordination of information exchange on HIV/AIDS in the region, the Thai Ministry of Public Health has provided office space for the ASEAN Information and Research Reference Center at the Bamrasnaradura Hospital in Bangkok.
The recommendation of the Task Force to allow the participation of Vietnam and Laos as Observers in its meetings as approved by the Third Meeting of the 28th ASC in January 1995 in Jakarta.
As a follow-up to the decision of the Third Meeting of ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Social Welfare held in December 1993 in Manila, the ASEAN Secretariat prepared a project proposal on the Feasibility Study ad Workshop on the Establishment of an ASEAN Regional Center/Network for Family and Child Development. The proposal was adopted by COSD and the ASC. An expert commissioned by UNICEF is now assisting the ASEAN Secretariat in conducting the study in preparation for the convening of the Workshop in the latter part of 1995.
A project, "Study of Staff Development Practices in Services Organizations in Selected Countries", was conducted in the Philippines from 13 to 24 June 1994, with funding from JAEP. The 14-day course provided the opportunity for participants from ASEAN Member Countries to meet and discuss the various methods and approaches in human resource development and management (HRDM), with focus on staff development programmes of service organizations. It also opened avenues of cooperation as well as the developer .d application of commonly shared ideas and concepts relative to HRDM.