Towards Improving the Quality
of Life of the Peoples of ASEAN



Much energy and effort has been channelled into freeing the peoples of the region from poverty and all its attendant hardhsips. In addition to attacking the problem head-on, as ASEAN has done in its effort to eradicate rural poverty, ASEAN has also taken a self-help approach. This approach has entailed the creation of increased opportunities for education and skills development and the provision of basic amenities to safeguard the health of the people. Efforts are also underway to ensure that various marginalised persons and groups are brought into the mainstream so that they too can enjoy the benefits of peace, freedom and prosperity.


ASEAN University Network (AUN) Charter (1995)

The Fourth ASEAN Summit held in Singapore in 1992 and emphasised the need to speed up the development of a regional identity and solidarity within the major ASEAN universities. The leaders agreed to promote human resources development by looking at ways to strengthen the links between the existing network of leading universities and institutions of higher learning within ASEAN. The ultimate aim was to establish an ASEAN University based on this expanded network.

Another important objective was to increase awareness of ASEAN among people in the region by expanding ASEAN Studies as part of Southeast Asian Studies in the school and university curricula and the introduction of ASEAN student exchange programmes at the secondary and tertiary levels of education.


Agreement on the Establishment of the ASEAN University Network (AUN) (1995)

In order to promote people-to-people contact, especially among professionals, academics, scientists and scholars in the region, the Agreement on the Establishment of the ASEAN University Network (AUN) was signed in June 1995 by the Presidents/Rectors/Vice-Chancellors of the leading universities and colleges in ASEAN.

The principle aims of the Agreement were to promote cooperation between academics, scientists and scholars within the region, develop academic and professional human resources, and promote the dissemination of information, for example by using electronic networking of libraries. The Agreement also covered programmes for the exchange of faculty and students within the region and a scholarship system for study at ASEAN universities. In addition, the AUN hopes to enhance awareness of ASEAN through the expansion of ASEAN studies in the school curricula.


ASEAN Foundation (Kuala Lumpur, 1997)

Following on from the 5th ASEAN Summit held in Bangkok in December 1995, a decision was made increase the attention given to functional cooperation, including social development, based on the idea of "shared prosperity through human development, technological competitiveness and social cohesiveness". As a result, the ASEAN foreign ministers signed an agreement in Kuala Lumpur in December 1997 to create an ASEAN Foundation.

The Foundation was launched in July 1998, based in Jakarta and intended to promote greater awareness of ASEAN among ordinary people in the member countries and increase opportunities for contact between the peoples of ASEAN. Its tasks will include organising and supporting activities to promote education, training, health and cultural life, and encouraging exchanges among young people and students of ASEAN member countries together with encouraging collaborative work among academics, professionals and students.


Health: ASEAN-WHO Memorandum of Understanding (1997)

Ongoing cooperation between ASEAN and the WHO was recently given an additional boost by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in early-1997 to promote closer collaboration in several important health areas. These include (1) the prevention and control of priority communicable diseases such as malaria, dengue HIV/AIDS, and hepatitis, (2) the prevention and control on non-communicable diseases, for example cancer and heart disease, with the emphasis on the leading of healthy lifestyles, (3) environmental health, including the improvement of health quality in cities, (4) quality assurance in the area of essential drugs, (5) nutrition, (6) food safety, and (7) research in the area of new and re-emerging diseases. The MOU emphasises the vital importance of incorporating health issues into all poverty alleviation efforts. The Understanding represents a higher level of cooperation between ASEAN and the WHO.


Declaration on the Advancement of Women in the ASEAN Region (1988)

In ASEAN countries as elsewhere, women have not always seen their fair share of the benefits of the increasing prosperity of the region, despite their crucial importance. As a result of the increasing awareness of the importance of the many roles played by women and the problems they often encounter in realising their full potential and aspirations, in July 1988 the six ASEAN member countries at that time signed the Declaration on the Advancement of Women in the ASEAN Region.

The Declaration committed ASEAN member countries to the following five main goals:

  1. To promote and introduce the just and effective participation of women whenever possible;

  2. To allow women in the region to play their important role as active agents and beneficiaries of national regional development;

  3. To integrate into national plans the specific concerns of women and their roles as participants in and beneficiaries of development;

  4. To design and promote programmes involving the participation of the community; and

  5. To strengthen solidarity in the region and international women's forums.