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SUPPORTING THE ASEAN COMMUNITY Think, Feel and Be ASEAN ANNUAL REPORT 2016
SUPPORTINGTHE ASEAN
COMMUNITYThink, Feel and Be ASEAN
ANNUAL REPORT
2016
This report provides an overview of the ASEAN Foundation activities undertaken in year 2016.The report also covers the projects, achievements and initiatives of the ASEAN Foundation in supporting the ASEAN Community Vision 2025
Design and Layout :Amadeus Rembrandt S
© Copyright ASEAN Foundation 2017
TABLE OF CONTENTSMessage from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Message from the Executive DirectorWhat We Doa). Education
• Model ASEAN Meeting: Experiencing ASEAN First-Hand
• ASEAN Credit Transfer System: Advocating ASEAN and Japan Student Mobility
• Science and Technology Fellowship Programme: Knowledge Empowerment for ASEAN’s Future
• CGI-ASEAN Foundation Scholarship: A Journey Towards A Brighter Future
b). Arts and Culture• ASEAN Puppets Exchange: Celebrating “One ASEAN” through A Collaborative
Puppet Performance
c). Media• ASEAN Youth Video Contest: Immersion into the ASEAN Identity
• Reporting ASEAN: Getting deeper understanding on ASEAN News
d). Community Building• AFOSP: Growing Prosperity Across ASEAN
• ASEAN Social Entrepreneurship Conference: Collaboration for the Good of the ASEAN Community
• Inter-faith dialogue: Engaging faith groups in building a cohesive and united ASEAN Community.
• Advocating work-life balance in ASEAN
• Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippines (DFA) ASEAN Women Conference: Enhancing women’s participation in the ASEAN economy
• The ASEAN Leaders Programme: Connecting Leaders and Fostering Regional Collaboration
Greater Support, Stronger Synergy
ASEAN Foundation Outreach
Organisation Development
Looking Forward in 2017
Financial Highlights
Audit Report
Our Board of TrusteesOur TeamOur Donors
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MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
We are one year into the implementation of the ASEAN Community and ties between the ASEAN member states are stronger than ever. But we
must not rest on our laurels and must continue to reach out to more members of the public to raise greater awareness about ASEAN, and how they can benefit from being a part of the ASEAN Community. In addition to an improved life, the ASEAN Community also helps to bring the different cultures within ASEAN together as one, strengthening the ASEAN identity so that every citizen feels like they are a part of ASEAN.
Thus, the role of the ASEAN Foundation remains important in reaching out to the hearts and minds of the general ASEAN public. As the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the ASEAN Foundation, I am pleased to present the 2016 ASEAN Foundation Annual Report. This annual report shares the initiatives that the ASEAN Foundation has put together in the year 2016, and the results from their efforts.
The ASEAN Foundation has successfully engaged different sectors of ASEAN such as youths, artists, rural farmers, social entrepreneurs, and women to name a few. Different stakeholders were involved in each of these initiatives thus ASEAN people from all walks of life interacted with each other. These sectors of society were engaged through different mediums – through art and culture with the ASEAN Puppet Exchange, through media with the ASEAN Youth Video Contest and the Reporting ASEAN programmes, and through education with the ASEAN Foundation
Model ASEAN meeting and the various scholarship programmes. These are just some of the many initiatives by the ASEAN Foundation and you can read about more of them in this annual report.
The achievements of the ASEAN Foundation so far should be credited to the different parties involved. I would like to thank the Board of Trustees and staff of the ASEAN Foundation for their passion and belief in the work we are doing, our ASEAN dialogue partners, private sector and tertiary institutes, as well as those who helped and contributed to the ASEAN Foundation’s initiatives. We will continue to strive and achieve a truly people-centric ASEAN.
H.E. Amb Shariffah Norhana Syed MustaffaPR Malaysia
I am assured that the Foundation will continue to engage and raise awareness about being one ASEAN Community, and truly “Think, Feel, and Be ASEAN”.
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allows scientists and researchers in ASEAN to share their knowledge with policy makers to develop effective and relevant policies to improve the lives of the people in ASEAN.
Under the arts and culture theme, the ASEAN Puppets Exchange continued its successful run, raising awareness about different puppetry styles across ASEAN, and preserving these ancient crafts. By coming together to put up a performance about cooperation leading to success, it showed everyone that the different people of ASEAN come together as one and thrive together.
Under the media theme, the Youth Video Contest engaged young people by using interactive media to raise awareness about ASEAN and feel a sense of familiarity with the ASEAN identity. The Reporting ASEAN programme and its coffeeshop talks with journalists showed them that there was more to ASEAN than high-profile government events, and through the programme, we were better able to understand from journalists the challenges they faced while reporting on ASEAN.
Under the community theme, the ASEAN Farmers’ Organisations Support Programme (AFOSP) will promote policy dialogue and interactions between farmers and rural organisations and the ASEAN level institutions, and improve the lives of rural farmers through cooperatives. The ASEAN Leaders’ Programme engaged top industry
leaders in ASEAN as they are members of society who can cause great positive impact. The Social Entrepreneurship Conference was a platform for changemakers in ASEAN society to expand their networks and do greater good in the community.
In 2017, many new initiatives will be launched, with some targeting new sectors of ASEAN. The S Rajaratnam Endowment Community Forum Series engages Civil Service Organisations, and the ASEAN Foundation is proud to announce its partnership with SAP on social entrepreneurship initiatives. A new Youth Citizen Journalism initiative for ASEAN youth will also be launched.
Within the ASEAN Foundation, the Board of Trustees kindly gave approval for university students to serve their internships at the ASEAN Foundation. They also approved the ASEAN Foundation to accept students from universities from ASEAN’s dialogue partners.
Looking forward in 2017, the ASEAN Foundation’s existing and new initiatives will engage a greater spectrum of the ASEAN public, and bring everyone closer together. Together, we will truly feel a part of the ASEAN Community, with each of us playing our part towards achieving regional prosperity.
Ms. Elaine TanExecutive Director,ASEAN Foundation
MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The ASEAN Foundation takes pride in its role to build the ASEAN Community, and in one year, we have reached out to many sectors of the community
throughout ASEAN through our initiatives. Our initiatives use many different mediums, depending on the target group of the initiative. There is no one size fits all and we aim to build initiatives that help the beneficiaries the most, and achieve our goal to increase ASEAN awareness and identity.
In 2016, our initiatives were divided into 4 themes: education, arts & culture, media, and community building.
Under the education theme, the ASEAN Foundation Model ASEAN Meeting allows young university students to experience ASEAN for themselves by playing the role of ASEAN leaders discussing real issues being faced by ASEAN. The ASEAN Credit Transfer Scheme aims to facilitate student mobility and expose students to new international experiences as they become true global citizens. The Chulabhorn Graduate Institute - ASEAN Foundation Post-Graduate Scholarship Programme in Science and Technology aims to build the capacity of the next generation of ASEAN scientists. The Science and Technology Fellowship Programme
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“I find it interesting that (at the Model ASEAN Meeting) youths are trying to tackle the complex issues together”Kaung Myat,Student Delegate from Myanmar
WHAT WE DO
The ASEAN Foundation extended its efforts in 2016 to reach out to
an even wider group of beneficiaries to improve their lives, build public awareness about ASEAN and a sense of belonging. The ASEAN Community is in full force, and the projects in 2016 celebrated ASEAN’s diversity, but also stressed its unity, instilling a pride in being a part of ASEAN. The projects were people-centric, focusing on benefiting the lives of all citizens in ASEAN. The projects can be divided into: a) Education, b) Arts and Culture, c) Media, and d) Community Building.
a. Education
i. Model ASEAN Meeting – Experiencing ASEAN First Hand
Many citizens of ASEAN may not understand how ASEAN works and how the decisions made at the regional level can help them. However, through the ASEAN Foundation’s Model ASEAN Meeting (MAM), many
ASEAN youths were given the opportunity to experience ASEAN for themselves. The second ASEAN Foundation Model ASEAN Meeting (AFMAM), held in Vientiane, Laos, from 2 – 6 October 2016, saw 88 participants from 34 different ASEAN universities attend. It was held in partnership with the Institute of Foreign Affairs (IFA) under the purview of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Lao PDR. Funding supports were received from the ASEAN – U.S. Partnership for Good Governance, Equitable and Sustainable Development and Security (ASEAN – U. S. PROGRESS) – a joint project of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. State Department, and ASEAN. Additionally, Maybank Foundation – Malaysia and KBZ Group – Myanmar also extended their support.
The theme for this AFMAM was the protection and promotion of the rights of migrant workers in ASEAN, which aligned with the Lao PDR
ASEAN Chairmanship motto “Turning Vision into Reality for a Dynamic ASEAN Community”.
Ms Elaine Tan, Executive Director of the ASEAN Foundation said, “Taking part in a Model ASEAN Meeting activity will raise ASEAN awareness among the young people, providing them an opportunity for personal enrichment, as well as a better understanding of the benefits of ASEAN, the regional integration process, and their potential to contribute to the ASEAN Community.”
The students took on the role of country leaders other than their own, so they gained deep insights into other ASEAN member states. They had to discuss the respective areas of concern within their assigned roles, and had to come up with a proposal or resolution paper and an outcome document. By working together and interacting with each other over the course of the programme, the students forged networks with their peers, and learned important skills such as public speaking, negotiation, and diplomacy.
“We learn soft skills like debating and public speaking. We also gain a deep understanding about ASEAN” Trinh Tien Thai,Student Delegate from Viet Nam
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“We (give) much thanks to ASEAN Foundation for showing us the better way of learning regional issues. If possible, all of the mini MAMers want ASEAN Foundation (to) come to University of Mandalay as soon as possible because they (would like to thank) AF and want to make more broad network of ASEAN students to promote the spirit of ASEAN citizenship. We [are] one ASEAN – a peaceful and prosperous community”Myo Myint Khaing who represented the Republic of Indonesia at the first AFMAM, First year International Relations student,Mandalay University
The students gained a greater understanding of the ASEAN Charter, the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, ASEAN protocols and procedures, and how all these parts in the system worked together for the betterment of ASEAN. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lao PDR, H. E. Mr. Thongphane Savanphet, graced the opening ceremony. The ambassadors to Lao PDR of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand were in attendance as well.
Indeed, the event was well received as 89 per cent of the participants found their overall experience in the 2nd AFMAM 2016 positive. 72% of participants indicated that they would like to host their own MAM in their university back home. This positive response was received from the very first MAM in 2015, as in 2016 four university-level MAMs were organised by the AFMAM alumni. This helps to spread more awareness about what ASEAN is, how it works, and the importance of an ASEAN Community to even more youths, as those who did not attend the regional MAM got to experience ASEAN for themselves. What’s impressive is that even universities outside ASEAN and from ASEAN Dialogue Partner countries organised their own MAM.
The high amount of interest in ASEAN from dialogue partners shows the support that ASEAN has and more youths from dialogue partner countries can learn more about ASEAN. Many of the students who attended the regional MAM and their own national MAM shared that they all learned something they couldn’t
have in the classroom and that it was a very value-added experience for them.
These were the Model ASEAN Meetings that were organised by students for students:
• There were two Model ASEAN Meetings held in Myanmar. The first was held in the University of Mandalay from 21 – 22 August 2016. The second Model ASEAN Meeting was held in Yangon Technological University (YTU) from 17 – 19 December 2016, where 36 students attended.
• The Philippiness had their Model ASEAN Meeting from 25 – 27 January 2016 at the University of Santo Tomas. 66 students from 10 universities attended the Model ASEAN meeting.
• The Indonesian MAM took place in Jakarta, on 15 November 2016 at Pertamina University.
• In Thailand, 70 students attended the MAM at Chulalongkorn University from 22 – 24 April 2016.
Outside of ASEAN, China and New Zealand had their own Model ASEAN meetings.
• The Guangxi Normal University in China, in partnership with the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA), the United Nations Association of China (UNA – China), and the ASEAN Foundation, held its First China Model ASEAN Meeting from 25 – 29 September 2016. 75 Chinese students from the GXNU and 30 students from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam studying at the GXNU and other universities in Guilin city participated.
• Over in New Zealand, more than 30 students from the University of Otago’s UN Youth Otago group acted as representatives from different ASEAN countries in their MAM supported by the Department of Politics.
ii. ASEAN Credit Transfer System: Advocating ASEAN and Japan Student Mobility
Japan is one of ASEAN’s dialogue partners, and the ASEAN Foundation seeks to give learning opportunities for ASEAN and Japanese students. Ten ASEAN students were selected to study at the Kyoto University for the semester starting from October 2016 to March 2017. Five students were from Indonesia, one was from Malaysia, one was from the Philippines, and three were from Thailand. The programme aims to promote understanding between ASEAN students and Japanese students. It aims to facilitate student mobility and
Picture above: MAM in Thailand,photo credit: Thai MAM 2016 Facebook Page.
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AFIQ’S STORY expose students to new international experiences as they become true global citizens.
One of the students from Indonesia, Maudy Elvira Saraswati, aged 21, shared with the ASEAN Foundation her experience. She said, “In the university, I got a chance to sit with people from around the world and just share our own stories. I learn not only from what the professor are saying, but also from my classmate’s story as we come and we are here from such different background. Studying in such a diverse atmosphere is like opening a part of my brain that I have never explored. It gives me so much more interesting point of view on life. I have to say, my experience in Kyoto has been one of a kind so far.”
Maudy (extreme left with long hair and sunglasses) and her new friends in Kyoto. Photo credit: Maudy Elvira Saraswati
12 scholarships were allocated to Kyoto University students to study in ASEAN universities that are members of the ASEAN University Network (AUN). They will begin their studies in the first quarter of 2017. This programme was supported by the Government of Japan through the Japan – ASEAN Solidarity Fund (JASF) under the administration of the ASEAN Foundation.
Afiq Mohammed, aged 27, from Universiti Teknologi Brunei, was
one of the 88 ASEAN students who attended the 2nd Model ASEAN Meeting in Laos, organised by the ASEAN Foundation. The Bruneian team represented Myanmar, a country that Afiq knew little about before attending AFMAM. Afiq is a business student and was familiar with the ins and outs of the business, economics, and IT industries, but through AFMAM, he learned more about Myanmar, his ASEAN neighbours, and became more aware about the issues being faced by them. He was happy to meet many new friends from all around ASEAN, and had a rich learning journey in Laos.
“I have learnt more about what our ASEAN countries are striving for. A quick tour in Laos was amazing, especially riding the tuk tuk as we don’t have that in Brunei.” This is one of the goals of AFMAM after all – to familiarise ASEAN member countries with each other’s cultures and insights into each other’s countries.
Being one united ASEAN and working together to achieve prosperity for all is very important to the region, and is reflected in the way ASEAN works as well. Decisions are made on mutual consensus; thus, all differences must be settled. Achieving this is not easy, as Afiq learned. “Communication plays a vital role in order to conclude to a consensus. From the political, socio cultural and economic standings, every country in ASEAN aims to cultivate a cohesive relationship within the dynamic and
competitive environment”. It was challenging to understand another country’s perspective on the issues being discussed, and why certain frameworks would or wouldn’t work for the country.
But the winner of the Most Diplomatic Award said, “In my perspective, engaging with other ASEAN member countries requires a lot of compassion and understanding of perspectives. Each country has various strengths and weaknesses that can be overcome if we all work together. Frameworks and regulations may be contradicting or not suitable with various cultures and countries”.
Afiq supports the organisation of an ASEAN Model meeting in his school because besides learning more about ASEAN and Brunei’s role in it, they will also learn the importance of working together to help others. This is what the ASEAN Foundation hopes to achieve through the AFMAM, thus the Foundation looks forward to bringing more ASEAN youth together through the AFMAM and its other projects.
iii. Science and Technology Fellowship Programme: Enhancing lives in ASEAN with science-based policies
Policies have a huge impact on improving the lives of people in ASEAN, and the Science and Technology Fellowship Programme allows scientists and researchers in ASEAN to play a part. Through the programme, ASEAN scientists and researchers will be integrated into national-level ministries in ASEAN Member States to encourage governments to use more science based approaches in their policy making and decision making.
14 fellows completed their Fellowship in 2016 and a new batch of 15 fellows started theirs in 2016.
Japan to ASEAN
ASEAN to Japan
all from Japan (Kyoto University) and all studied in Thailand
(Mahidol University).
10 Indonesians, 1 Malaysian,1 Filipino, 1 Singaporean,
3 Thai, 4 Vietnamesesand all studied in Japan
(Kyoto University).
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more self-reliant in research and I also learned how to cooperate with other people effectively. Moreover, after 2-year studying in Master programme in CGI, my ability to analyse a specific matter and lab skills are better off”. She has boosted her capabilities and is better equipped with relevant skills to help her community.
Nguyen got to pursue her dream course of study, meet peers and professors from around the world and learn about Thai culture. She also pursued hobbies like cooking and had lots of fun making meals for her new friends. She is extremely grateful to have been able to study at CGI and thanks CGI and the ASEAN Foundation for the opportunity. Looking to her future, she says with a smile, “I would like to become a scientist in cancer research field as well as ... a Master Chef”.
HA NGUYEN THU’S STORY
Filled with a desire to address some of the major problems resulting
from her country’s rapid development, Ha Nguyen Thu readily applied for the CGI-ASEAN Foundation Scholarship. She wanted to raise awareness about environmental toxicology since the overuse of industrial chemicals, additives in food and environmental pollution were causing huge damage to the environment and the people’s heath. There were no universities in Viet Nam offering her the topic of her choice, Environmental Toxicology, so she jumped at the opportunity to study in Thailand.
Nguyen described her experience, saying, “I had a great chance to approach global health issues such as air pollution, arsenic contamination, contagious MER and Ebola infection through intensive courses. I and other students were put in those situations to tackle problems together.” The challenges she faced in her research were what motivated her to keep going and never give up. Her professors and peers were also helpful and friendly.
At CGI, Nguyen learned a lot. “Exposing new practical issues incentivised us to be more creative,
Equipped with the knowledge of science and technology, they can closely advise governments when they are making policies and other national-level decisions that can benefit from their insights. The Fellows in the programme will also gain knowledge about how policy making works and how governments are run, and the programme will raise awareness about ASEAN at high levels of government. In the long term, the fellows from the programme will complement policymaking, the programme will increase awareness about the sciences and technology, and develop greater ASEAN cooperation and talent mobility in the science and technology sectors through capability development, technology transfer and commercialisation. It will also strengthen ASEAN-US cooperation.
This Fellowship programme, modelled after the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science & Technology Policy Fellowship, has been administered by the ASEAN-U.S. PROGRESS Project since it was launched in 2014. Since then, this programme has expanded every year and is expected to continue to grow under the sustained guidance and management of the ASEAN Foundation starting in 2017. In 2016, the ASEAN Foundation made a significant contribution by developing the programme implementation manual.
iv. CGI-ASEAN Foundation Scholarship: A Journey Towards A Brighter Future
The Chulabhorn Graduate Institute - ASEAN Foundation Post-graduate Scholarship Programme in Science and Technology aims to build the capacity of the next generation of ASEAN scientists. Seven students consisting of six Indonesians and one Vietnamese were granted with scholarships, and in July 2016, two of these students graduated – one from Viet Nam, and one from Indonesia.
The scholars learned a lot from their stint at the Chulabhorn Graduate Institute (CGI). They had the opportunity to work in advanced research facilities, and attended lectures from visiting professors from prestigious universities. One of the scholars, Ms. Ismi Farah, from Indonesia said, “The institute provides good facility for research, and everyone is always willing to help me, give support and encouragement. The time I spent for research gave me experience and knowledge about
how to be independent, work hard, and learn how to solve my own problem and come up with better solution”.
Ms Ismi Farah received her Bachelor’s degree from UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung, and after graduating from CGI, is now a science teacher.
The CGI – ASEAN Scholar from Indonesia is Ms. Ismi Farah, pictured on the extreme right. Photo credit: Ismi Farah.
Photo credit: Ha Nguyen Thu
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Through fulfilling their studies at the institute, the scholars also learned about Thai culture, and by interacting with the international community at the institute, raised awareness about ASEAN as well.
v. Scholarship Alumni Gathering
The ASEAN Foundation endeavoured to arrange a small gathering in Ha Noi on 13 December 2016 with six (6) Vietnamese scholarship alumni members. They are:
1. Ms. Dang Thi Tan Huong, a graduate of 2000 – 2001 from the National University of Singapore, is working in Viet Nam – Australia HRD Partnership Programme
1. Mr. Nguyen Viet Tuc, a graduate of 2003 – 2004 from the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), is working in the Agribank, Hoan Kiem Branch
2. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuc, a graduate of 2003 – 2004 from the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), is working in the Foreign Affairs Department of Ha Tinh Province
3. Ms. Vu Phuong Linh, Ms. Dinh Minh Tram, and Ms. Trinh Thi Thu, graduates of 2015 from Kyoto University, were continuing their study in Viet Nam National University.
The gathering provided an opportu-nity for the six alumni members to re-new their acquaintances and to be updated of each other’s professional development. The alumni members expressed their gratitude over the scholarship they received from the ASEAN Foundation which had helped them advance their current career and study.
b. Arts and Culture
i. ASEAN Puppets Exchange: Celebrating “One ASEAN” through A Collaborative Puppet Performance
The wide diversity of cultures in ASEAN was brought together as one at the ASEAN Puppets Exchange (APEX) held this year in Yangon, Myanmar (9 – 16 May); Penang, Malaysia (16 – 21 Oct); and Ha Noi, Viet Nam (9 – 17 Dec). Supported by
THET THET’S STORYMs. Thet Thet Htwe Oo started learning puppetry when she was 9 years old. Seeing how the puppets were manipulated fascinated her as a young girl, thus she wanted to learn how to do it. Now 20 years old, she is sharing her knowledge about marionette puppets with fellow puppeteers around ASEAN.
Thet Thet also learned about the different types of puppetry around ASEAN, which she felt was a great learning opportunity. She felt that the most exciting part of the workshop was learning how to manipulate the puppets from other ASEAN countries. “Vietnamese D.I.Y puppetry was the most interesting for me. It is made from materials which are easy to get around us and I’m so interested about it,” she said.
Thet Thet participated in 4 APEX workshops: Indonesia (APEX Water), Brunei (APEX Light), Myanmar (APEX Earth) and Viet Nam (APEX One). When asked which was her favourite
APEX event, she said, “I think the most memorable one is the APEX water in Indonesia. It was the first time of working together with different countries and different kind of puppets. For me, it was a very good new experience.” She played the Dragon (Nagar) character.
Inspired by her experience at APEX, Thet Thet wants to make puppets just like the Vietnamese handmade ones in the future, and through her puppets, tell more stories her modern audience can relate to.
the Japan-ASEAN Solidarity Fund, a total of more than 160 puppet artists and practitioners from around ASEAN visited each country for one week to learn about puppetry of other ASEAN countries, and put up a performance at the end of each session. Some participants came from ASEAN Dialogue Partners like Japan, the United States, and Australia. More than 4,000 people in total came to watch the three performances by APEX.
Puppetry is an art form and a piece of shared ASEAN culture that brings people together even if they do not speak the same language. It has been used since ancient times to tell stories, pass on values to the community – thus One ASEAN is celebrated through puppetry.
The theme for the first performance in Yangon was “Earth”, focusing on the environment. For the second, the theme was “Live”, focusing on the
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daily life, family and livelihoods in ASEAN. And the final performance, which was called the “One ASEAN Story”, combined all these storylines as well as those from previous APEX exchanges in 2015 that were titled “Fire”, “Water”, and “Light”. This final performance brought together the different styles of puppetry, music, song, and dance just like how the ASEAN community brings all of ASEAN together as one.
“It’s a very important programme. Not all country has the same thought, for example discrimination. However, when we work together we never think of all that. We never look at the religion we believe in. We never look at the nationality we come from. It is a special thing we can find when we do this kind of exchange programme,” Mann Kosal, Creative Director of Sovannah Phum Art Association said about his experience in the programme.
The storyline of the performance focused on the importance of working together hand in hand, and was
adapted from several folk talks from ASEAN countries like Brunei, Cambodia and Viet Nam. Only by cooperating can problems be resolved, which is the goal of one ASEAN. During the workshops, the participants experienced this for themselves as they came from different countries, and had to work together as a team to put up the performance.
Dan Phuong Anh, an undergraduate student at Hanoi National University of Education, said “This story conveys a message; only by peace, respect, and cooperation, we can move forward. It was admirable in the way the actors and actresses expressed the message. How professional they were. The wonderful folk song at the end, which restated the concept of the show: One ASEAN, truly impressed me”.
The ASEAN Puppets Exchange also helped to let more people know about ASEAN, and learn about the unique aspects of each culture within ASEAN. “Promoting the awareness of
ASEAN through culture is essential in order to build people’s understanding towards the culture of the region, its similarities and differences between and among ASEAN Member States, as well as to protect the distinctiveness of the ASEAN cultural heritage as a whole. These objectives are brought into realisation through the ASEAN Puppets Exchange Programme (APEX),” Elaine Tan, the Executive Director of the ASEAN Foundation said.
Getting ASEAN’s dialogue partners involved helps to raise even more awareness outside ASEAN. Erina Saji, Director of Utervision Japan, one of the guest artists of the programme said, “Until I got involved with this project I saw Southeast Asia as one culture which is quite a common perception in Japan. But now I have seen what diversity there is, and I really want to spread that knowledge back home”.
c. Media
i. ASEAN Youth Video Contest: Immersion into the ASEAN Identity
The ASEAN Youth Video Contest engages young people, the future of ASEAN, by using interactive media to raise awareness about ASEAN and feel a sense of familiarity with the ASEAN identity. Launched in August 2016, and with funding support from PROGRESS and the Philippines government, more than 100 applicants submitted their videos. 10 finalists were chosen to represent their countries and attend a video production training programme in Singapore from the 5 to 8 December 2016. The winners were chosen from a final task – participants had to produce a short video showcasing the spirit of volunteerism in ASEAN, and how volunteerism can help build the ASEAN Community.
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Addin Azan, 22, the finalist from Malaysia, explained very well how the spirit of volunteerism can help build the ASEAN Community. His video, titled “As a Family”, featured his experience volunteering in a village in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. By helping each other, groups of people can feel a sense of kinship, and will feel closer to each other, just like when a volunteer helps a community. He won 2nd place in the contest and prize money of $750.
The winning video by Jos Quyen, 21, from Viet Nam, told of how he, as part of a majority ethnic group in Viet Nam, lived among one of the poorest minority groups and saw how they struggled to survive. By gathering a group of like-minded volunteers, they helped the minority group by collecting food donations, raising funds for the children to go to school, and building permanent housing. Jos’ video states, “The same with other young people in ASEAN, we’re volunteering every moment of our life in supporting the poor, those left behind, and victims from regions facing difficulties. We’re here to build and develop a bright ASEAN for the next generation”. He won the prize money of USD 1000.
Through the medium of a video, the topic of volunteerism and themes of empathy and care for one another helps bring the people of ASEAN closer together, spreading good messages along the way. This helps achieve one of the ASEAN Foundation’s aims of building a sense of community with each other.
ii. Reporting ASEAN: Getting Deeper Understanding on ASEAN News
Shaping the way news about ASEAN is reported helps people understand ASEAN better. Much of the news coverage on ASEAN was about high-profile government-level events, and less about stories of the people of ASEAN. Stories about how government policies were affecting people’s lives, and the successes and challenges faced by the people of ASEAN need to be heard.
Started by IPS Asia-Pacific News in 2015, the Reporting ASEAN programme is now hosted by Probe Media Inc., and supported by the ASEAN Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Japan-ASEAN Solidarity Fund. The programme consisted of two parts: a Media Fellowship and a Media Forum.
Members of the media, together with professionals in the public, private, and academic sectors could exchange views and experiences at the Media Forum. They could also discuss emerging issues, challenges, opportunities in reporting and analysis on the ASEAN Community 2015 and beyond. It gave them opportunities to position the media
and the public’s perceptions, discussions, and reporting about ASEAN. The Media Fellowship built journalists’ capacity for deeper, more consistent, and critical reporting on the ASEAN Community.
The Reporting ASEAN programme thus aims to:
a. Give the media a platform to discuss issues and challenges of reporting about ASEAN and the regional work being done
b. Facilitate reporting about the changes, challenges, and integration happening in ASEAN, and the ASEAN community project.
There were a total of 30 journalists who took part in the programme. These were composed of 18 print fellows and 12 TV fellows from eight ASEAN countries, aged from 20s to early 40s. The number of journalists attending from each country was widely spread out, with the most number of journalists, 10, coming from Viet Nam.
The programme was well received by the participants. Doris Dumlao from the Philippines Daily Inquirer shared her insights, “we from the same region - more than those from the Western world - have a greater understanding of our neighbouring economies and the intricacies of domestic politics, and we can all help each other prosper. It has only strengthened my optimism that this region will find a greater voice, build more winners than losers and create more opportunities for Southeast Asians.”
In 2016, coffeeshop talks called “coffee chats” were hosted by IPS Asia-Pacific in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Quezon City, the Philippines, to get the journalists’ thoughts on the Reporting ASEAN Media programme. They discussed what they thought of ASEAN as a news topic, whether they had special news sections that focused on ASEAN, the challenges with reporting about ASEAN and what they need to report about ASEAN more holistically. In Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the coffee chat was featured on Cambodia News Channel (CNC) thanks to two journalists/presenters who were part of IPS Asia-Pacific other media training programs in the past.
There were also questionnaires carried out to journalists who didn’t manage to make it to the coffee chats and for those who weren’t comfortable speaking in English. The key insights from the chats and questionnaires were:
• ASEAN is not easy to reach and journalists were not sure how to relate ASEAN and ASEAN issues to the news stories they cover on a regular basis.
• They need to relate ASEAN news stories to citizens’ daily lives and compete with domestic news stories that locals might find more interesting
• Some local sources were not familiar with ASEAN
• Language is an issue as many ASEAN documents are in English
• Journalists are not sure how to identify sources in government agencies and which agencies,
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cooperatives to give the Lao government when proposing policies for farmers.
Encouraged after the ALRAC programme, Phoutthasinh believes that in Lao’s context, Lao farming cooperatives should help small holder famers with marketing, but should not be like middleman businesses that do contract farming. Rather, the small holder farmers should be able to own their own businesses.
because they are not familiar with how ASEAN works
• Few news organizations can afford to send reporters overseas for regional stories
• Journalists were not familiar with jargon and technical terms used in ASEAN.
• Journalists need first-hand data, instead of just being given press statements
d. Community Building
i. AFOSP: Growing Prosperity Across ASEAN
The ASEAN Farmers’ Organisations Support Programme (AFOSP) aims to improve the livelihoods and food security of smallholder farmers and rural producers in ASEAN member countries. The main stakeholders of AFOSP are the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), La Via Campesina (LVC), ASEAN Foundation (AF), and participating MTCP-ASEAN Farmers’ Organisations (FOs). It is funded by an EU and IFAD Grant.
The ASEAN Foundation, leaders of the farmers organisations, PROCASUR, and the ASEAN Sectoral
Working Group on Agricultural Cooperatives (ASWGAC) took part in a project called the ASEAN Learning Route on Agricultural Cooperatives (ALRAC). The objective of ALRAC is to enable the ASEAN smallholder farmers and rural producers to reap benefits from the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) through strengthening the role of agricultural cooperatives. ALRAC was held in the Philippines and Thailand from the 28 March to 3 April 2016. 30 participants, consisting of representatives from farmers’ organisations and government officials, from 8 ASEAN countries attended.
They got to see how the Philippines and Thailand used agricultural cooperatives to empower and enhance market access for their farmers and to ensure food security. They also studied the current state of the agricultural sector in the Philippines and Thailand and saw how policies, initiatives, and systems were put into place to support smallholder farmers. The participants then visited successful agricultural cooperatives like the Khao Kichakood Agricultural Cooperative in Chanthaburi, Thailand and Sorosoro Ibaba Development
Cooperative (SIDC) in Batangas, the Philippines. They saw the best-in-class examples of how agricultural cooperatives are run and what were some of the good agricultural practices that were used so that they can benefit from the AEC. For example, the Khao Kichakood Agricultural Cooperative offers credit, savings, purchasing and marketing services to their members.
AFOSP also took part in relevant ASEAN sectoral bodies meetings/workshops to explore potential project activities which can contribute to the implementation of relevant ASEAN Work Plan affecting the
ASEAN Farmers Organisations. In May 2016, AF participated in two regional events:
(1). Project Launching of Regional Cooperation to Empower Rural Development Organisations in Asia (ReCoERDO-Asia) and Synergy Workshop, 18-20 May 2016, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
(ii). 23rd Meeting of the ASEAN Centre for the Development of Agricultural Cooperatives (ACEDAC) and 18th Meeting of the ASEAN Sectoral Working Group on Agricultural Cooperatives (ASWGAC), 23-26 May 2016, Surabaya, Indonesia.
Mr. Phoutthasinh Phimmachanh, aged 36, is the General Manager of the Lao Farmer’s Network. He joined the ALRAC because he wanted to learn from the experiences of other ASEAN countries that implemented farming cooperatives, to organise Lao’s own. The site visit was the part of the programme he enjoyed the most, as he was able to see for himself the way the big farming cooperatives were run, and how they helped farmers.
“The most important thing I have learnt is that the cooperative must be managed by professionals in transparent way that provide benefits to members in order to be successful”, Phoutthasinh said. The cooperatives must put the needs of the members first to be of value to them. The site visits were also useful because the Lao Farmer’s Network would have functioning examples of farming
PHOUTTHASINH’S STORY
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The other activities that were done as part of AFOSP were:
a. Development of public awareness materials on ASEAN 101 and ASEAN Good Agricultural Practice (GAP)
b. Content contribution to the MTCP-2 website (Farmer’s Organisations websites)
c. Networking and consultation with ASEAN Secretariat and ACEDAC and other organisations
d. Production of AFOSP-AF promotional kits
Programmes like this enable the benefits of the AEC to be evenly spread across ASEAN, so that ASEAN can prosper together.
ii. ASEAN Social Entrepreneurship Conference: Collaboration for the Good of the ASEAN Community
The ASEAN Social Entrepreneurship Conference aims to bring ASEAN
social entrepreneurs, organisations supporting social enterprises, government, and academia together to forge connections and develop projects together. It was organised by UnLtd Indonesia and the Singapore International Foundation, and supported by the ASEAN Foundation through the Japan-ASEAN Solidarity Fund. Instead of just being a discussion forum, there were two parts to the conference.
The first part was where the social enterprises and the other partners could network, share and learn from each other. It was held in Singapore from the 21 – 22 July 2016 at the National University of Singapore Business School in Singapore. This conference was attended by 50 ASEAN social enterprises and 100 partners from the public and private sector. At the end of this conference, three collaborative projects between different ASEAN member states that had the most potential were chosen. The second part of the ASEAN
Entrepreneurship Conference was the showcase of these top 3 projects.
In the first part of the conference, the agenda revolved around the five themes aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Youth & Education; Environment; Health & Disability; Culture & Tourism; and Food & Agriculture. Participants interacted with each other in workshops and breakout sessions, and identified common needs and possible collaborative solutions within their respective groups. They worked on business plans together and pitched to the audience, which included industry experts from World Vision, Teach for All, and Oxfam.
Jamon Mok, Founder and CEO of Backstreet Academy, said, “The ASEAN Conference on Social Entrepreneurship is a very good platform for many social enterprises that have not been given the opportunity to network and collaborate on a regional level. While these social enterprises may work within the same sectors, the way our businesses operate in each country may differ. This conference has encouraged a lot of cross-border knowledge exchanges and also forged friendships, promoting a robust social entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
The top 3 projects chosen were:
Tripability (Indonesia and Cambodia): a convenient platform to search and book holidays and tourism
destinations around Southeast Asia that are accessible for people with disabilities.
Destination GOOD Guide (Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, Indonesia and Cambodia): A beautifully designed map of Southeast Asia highlighting verified social enterprises and sustainable tourism initiatives for conscious travellers to visit and support.
Agrigator.com (Indonesia, Viet Nam, Thailand, Philippines and Myanmar): An online portal connecting social enterprise food producers in Southeast Asia with marketing support, legal expertise, market insights and buyers from around the world.
Elaine Tan, Executive Director of the ASEAN Foundation, said that this initiative was the first attempt to create concrete collaborations
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between social enterprises in ASEAN and it showed the genuine spirit of ASEAN Community.
The three projects were launched on the 26 October 2016, at the Project Showcase of ASEAN Conference on Social Entrepreneurship 2016, held in Jakarta, Indonesia. More than 100 people from ASEAN member states, Japan and Australia attended. Participants came from a wide range
of sectors. There were enterprises, business incubators, investors, development agencies, and international NGOs.
This showcase focuses on sustaining their innovations and integrating their solutions into the social enterprise ecosystem. The three projects would be able to use this opportunity to test, collect feedback and improve the design of their products. Details on how to develop the impact of these social enterprises through public-private partnerships was also discussed.
There was also a pop-up marketplace held at the conference, and the vendors that were Indonesian social enterprises. The organisers of the event procured the services of social enterprises to prepare and run the conference, i.e. the catering, travel agency, event management team, gifts for speakers and participant gifts were sourced from social enterprises. Thus, the organisers led by example by using the services of social enterprises, and showcased these social enterprises as well.
In his remarks, Leonardo A. A. Teguh Sambodo, Director for Industry, Tourism, and Creative Economy, National Development Planning Agency of Indonesia, said that “Social enterprises are playing significant roles in finding solutions which cannot be done alone by government, private sectors or civil society. It is hoped that social enterprises will play more significant roles by collaborating with government to scale up their impact towards society and environment”. Only by working together will the
many socio-economic and environmental issues faced by Indonesia be addressed.
iii. Interfaith Dialogue: Engaging faith groups in building a cohesive and united ASEAN Community
On the 26 – 27 May 2016 in Bangkok, the Interfaith Dialogue was organised to get faith groups to discuss how religious teachings can contribute towards achieving peace and security in the ASEAN 2025 Blueprint goals. Titled “Introduction to ASEAN Community 2025: Engaging a Wider Stakeholdership in Enhancing Regional Peace and Security”, the dialogue was attended by around 30 representatives from spiritual communities, faith-based organisations, and higher institutions
all around ASEAN. Former Secretary-General of ASEAN H.E. Mr. Ong Keng Yong and Mr. Lee Yoong Yoong, the Director of Community Affairs Directorate of the ASEAN Secretariat were the keynote speakers.
H.E. Mr. Ong Keng Yong said that “religion conveys love for humanity and love for peace… we need to appreciate what each of the religions stand for, what we can do together... Together we can promote the peace and love for humanity that our respective beliefs tell us to do.” For us to build a peaceful and united community, ASEAN members need to appreciate each other’s beliefs, not just tolerate each other. After all, all religions promote love and peace.
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The participants held discussions on the role of religion in achieving peace, security, and prosperity, and agreed that respect and acceptance of each other’s religions was needed. Promoting empathy, equality, and kindness will bring the diverse groups in ASEAN together. When untied as a society, ASEAN can achieve its economic and social goals.
The Interfaith Dialogue was organised by the Human Rights Resource Centre with the support of the ASEAN Foundation, the Japan-ASEAN Solidarity Fund, Baha’i International Community, East West Center, WSD Handa Center for Human Rights and International Justice, and Universitas Indonesia.
The discussion outcomes from the Interfaith Dialogue were then presented in Jakarta, on 27 June 2016. The outcomes were presented to the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN, representatives of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights and of the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation, and the Deputy Secretary-Generals of the ASEAN Secretariat. These key officials gave their inputs on the possible next steps on how to engage faith-based groups.
At the event, Mr. Ong underscored the importance of the government needing to work together with civil society organisations. There are many of these faith-based organisations that have strong roots in local communities, and understand their people and their situations well. They have spent many years teaching
important values of peace, harmony and love for their nation, and thus need to play a role in bringing ASEAN together.
The possible next steps suggested by some of the key officials were:
• The Vietnamese Permanent Representative to ASEAN suggested that faith-based groups to familiarise themselves with the ways to work together with ASEAN
• H.E. Ong Keng Yong, former Secretary-General of ASEAN suggested a clear definition of terms such as mutual acceptance, moderation, and respect
• Ms. Elaine Tan, Executive Director of the ASEAN Foundation encouraged faith-based groups to engage with the ASEAN Education Ministers Meeting (ASED) to ensure that important values will be included in the education curriculum.
• Mr. Lee Yoong Yoong, Director of Community Affairs Directorate of the ASEAN Secretariat, encouraged faith-based groups to apply as entities associated with ASEAN as part of Annex II of the ASEAN Charter.
Religion plays a large role in many ASEAN citizens’ lives, thus faith-based groups can help raise awareness about ASEAN, and the ASEAN community to bring everyone together. These dialogues with faith groups have also established a precedent – a network of faith-based groups throughout ASEAN setting an example of diverse groups working together towards the common goal of an ASEAN community.
iv. Advocating work-life balance in ASEAN
With the rapidly growing societies in ASEAN comes many more citizens with aspirations and the challenges associated with achieving them. People in rural communities, people with disabilities and chronic illnesses, low-wage earners, young men and women and more are the ones that the ASEAN Work-Life Balance Project hopes to benefit.
Supported by the ASEAN Foundation and the ASEAN – Japan Solidarity Fund, the ASEAN Work-Life Balance Project, which aims to encourage ASEAN policy makers understand the importance of work life balance. With this understanding, they can develop regional social economic policies under the umbrella of work life balance. The ASEAN Work-Life
Balance Project will give ASEAN policy makers evidence-based recommendations so that work life balance can be an opportunity and a reality for all.
There were two parts to achieving the goal of the project:
1. Grassroots Initiative: “1 Million ASEAN Voices for Work-Life Balance”
2. Regional Conference: “ASEAN Work-Life Balance Conference”, with the theme Creating prosperity, Fulfilling lives. This conference was held on the 23 - 25 February 2016.
As part of the grassroots initiative, 3,139,827 people endorsed the Work-Life Balance Project, signalling the strong support and interest of people who want to make a difference in their
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lives. Campaigns like the “Internet for ASEAN: Everyone, Everywhere, Every Time”, “WLB4Women’, “WLB4Youth’, ‘WLB4All’, surveys, and pledges drove the support from citizens of ASEAN from all walks of life. More than 600 speakers, volunteers, and participants were a part of the Regional Conference, and the media outreach was about 43,049,000.
v. Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippines (DFA) ASEAN Women Conference: Enhancing women’s participation in the ASEAN economy
In ensuring economic equality across ASEAN, a focus must also be placed on developing ASEAN women’s role in the ASEAN Economic Community. The Regional Conference on the Economic Participation of Women in ASEAN was launched to understand the macroeconomic indicators and barriers to women’s participation in SMEs in ASEAN. During the conference, the participants validated the results of a survey through focus group discussions with representatives from government, private sector/SMEs, CSOs and NGOs for women. The participants then produced a technical report and final paper which was submitted on 29 February 2016, proposing their recommendations. The conference was supported by the Japan-ASEAN Solidarity Fund.
The conference participants exchanged knowledge and good practices on encouraging more women to take part in SMEs, and extend their network connections throughout ASEAN. There were 2 to 4 representatives from each ASEAN member state, with one representative from a trade governing body, one planning/economic representative of SMEs, one representative from an NGO or civil society organisation that serves SMEs, and one representative from women’s groups.
Many of the participants shared that the event was a great networking
Even more activities to promote work-life balance are being organised currently, with experts, leading academics and societal influencers like Ibu Sinta, the 4th first lady of Indonesia, and Ms Inayah Wahid, the first daughter of the 4th President of Indonesia lending their support.
A total of 108 videos,10 participant feedback videos
One 203-page e-book
78 articles
Ten national summary reports
One set of conference proceedings and recommendations to ASEAN government
one website were produced from the ASEAN Work Life Balance project
opportunity for them. They learned what it was like for their peers throughout ASEAN as women entrepreneurs or encouraging other women to step into entrepreneurship. They learned how different governments implemented policies and designed programs that encouraged greater participation of women in SMEs. The participants kept in touch with each other even after the conference ended, and will continue to make a greater impact from the strong connections they have forged. Through projects like this that focus on a specific group of people in ASEAN, the ASEAN Foundation aims to bring the ASEAN Community closer together.
vi. The ASEAN Leaders Programme: Connecting Leaders and Fostering Regional Collaboration
The ASEAN Leaders Programme gathers senior leaders from the public, private, and civic sectors in ASEAN to work together to address a challenge in the region. The programme will help them build strong connections with other leaders from around ASEAN, share knowledge and develop the cultural intelligence
required to grow ASEAN’s cities, realize the immense potential of the ASEAN Community and secure the future of its people for generations. The ASEAN Leaders Programme was launched in 2016 by Common Purpose, in partnership with the ASEAN Foundation and with the support of GE and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Participants collaborated to develop practical proposals to address a central challenge facing ASEAN, and to implement these proposals beyond the programme. The 2016 title was “What makes a city smart?”
An even number of participants came from the government sector, private sector, and NGOs, giving a diverse group of people with different interests a chance to interact with each other and find a common ground. In a survey taken after the programme, 95% of participants said the event has presented them with a balanced range of different views and perspectives. Dr. Syahira Hamidon, Head of Entrepreneurship & Public Private Research Network, Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia said, “I really didn’t know what to expect, but after attending the programme, I
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must say it is not like any other I have attended before. All the programmes I have attended were at government level. This one was at the level of people to people as opposed to government to government. It surprised me, and was much needed, too.”
Another participant, Tommy Pacatang, Resource Development Director, Habitat for Humanity, Indonesia said, “The concept of Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is a big gift... to understand myself through the lens of CQ and then engage with others who are from different cultures... This has helped me to try out new approaches to conflicting situations and in dealing with difficult people objectively. I’m practicing giving objective feedback to my staff quickly, and not in a confrontational way, and I’m seeing good results. It is helping in creating an environment of accountability, and a conducive working culture in my organization. I am more confident in the way I deal with people and more aware of the consequences.” Thus, the programme helped participants improve the way they work with people around them.
The ASEAN Leaders Programme was effective for many of the participants – 80% of them said the programme enhanced their ability to drive bold innovation.
“I think it’s quite clear that the future of this region is going to rely heavily on connectivity... take connectivity... connectivity with services space, flows of capital... the whole ASEAN economic community is targeted to helping such creativity, such connectivity. But at the end of the day, connectivity works if you have people-to-people dialogue, and people-to-people understanding... So, a programme like this is really, very important to create an opportunity for people to learn by touching and feeling,” Piyush Gupta, Group CEO, DBS Bank said.
With the new perspectives and a drive to develop dynamic innovations, the ASEAN Leaders Programme is on its way to achieving its aim of getting world leaders of different sectors of society to come together to address a challenge in ASEAN and push the whole region to greater heights.
GREATER SUPPORT, STRONGER SYNERGY
The ASEAN Foundation is pleased to begin working with SAP on a
few projects targeted at ASEAN youth, a key target group in ASEAN. The projects are: the ASEAN Young Data Science Explorers, SAP Social Sabbatical, and ASEAN IMPACT – Youth Volunteering in Innovation
Challenge. These three combined will aim at improving Education, and promoting Entrepreneurship in ASEAN, especially for the young population. These initiatives will also support the Work Plans of ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Education (SOMED) and ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Youth (SOMY). The ASEAN Foundation and SAP are planning to begin the partnership in the first quarter of 2017 with an estimated funding support from SAP of EUR 135,000 for the ASEAN Young Data Science Explorers.
77% of the participants felt that the programme will help them make better decisions
80% of the participants said the programme enhanced their ability to drive bold innovation)
78% of the participants said that the programme helped them further develop their own leadership
83% of the participants gained broader networks
Photo Credit : Common Purpose Asia Pacific
Photo credit: Common Purpose Asia Pacific
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The S.Rajaratnam Endowment (SRE) of Singapore will fund the ASEAN Foundation to organise three forums in the next eighteen months from 2017 and 2018. The total budget the ASEAN Foundation requested to SRE for the First Forum is USD 119,821.80.
The ASEAN Foundation successfully attained corporate sponsorship of USD 9,500 from the KBZ Group of Myanmar in September 2016, which went towards organising the 2nd ASEAN Foundation Model ASEAN Meeting. The ASEAN Foundation is also very honoured that the Maybank Foundation continued their support to the Model ASEAN Meeting by pledging RM 15,000 for the 2017 event compared to RM 10,000 from 2016.
ASEAN FOUNDATION OUTREACH
The ASEAN Foundation has been successfully increasing its social
media outreach, especially since one of the key groups it wishes to interact more with the ASEAN youths. The ASEAN Foundation also improved its overall communications strategy and media outreach. This is crucial as it aims to bring across messages that raise more awareness about ASEAN, and that unite the people of ASEAN. The communication strategy focused on three major areas: media production, media engagement, and event management.
Different types of media were used to reach a wider audience, and cater to different audience types who receive
information via different mediums. Online media such as social media channels and the website, audio visual products such as video, as well as printed publication and promotional materials such as banners, annual report, infographics, and brochures were used. Social media was used heavily for the ASEAN Foundation’s projects. For example, for the Model ASEAN Meeting, since the call for application was published in the first week of June until the end of the reporting period (30 September 2016), the ASEAN Foundation published 78 AFMAM-related posts in total in both Facebook and Twitter and 16 posts in Instagram.
In the last six months, the number of followers in the Foundation’s social media outlets has been constantly rising. The increasing number of followers had also resulted in the growing number of the Foundation’s web visitors. Thus, the Foundation’s website had to be updated. Consultants were hired to redesign the homepage, update the content in each page, and make improvements in the navigation buttons and layout, to make the website become visually attractive and user-friendly.
The ASEAN Foundation’s media coverage also increased in 2016. 19 media coverage was generated from online, radio, and printed media. It is higher than the 15 news coverage recorded in 2015, and 6 in 2014.
Fans
14,103Followers
11,614Followers
979Followers
533
ASEAN Foundation Social Media Outreach (2015 vs 2016):
ASEAN Foundation Website Outreach (2015 vs 2016):
Unique Visitors
Number of Visits
96,271
160,948
100,476
174,984
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ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT
The recruitment of the Seventh Executive Director of the ASEAN
Foundation was done within the period of February to September 2016. The incumbent was selected to be the Seventh Executive Director for the period of 17 Jan 2017 to 16 January 2020.
The BOT approved the new organisational structure of the ASEAN Foundation, and it is shown below.
The ASEAN Foundation audited its IT system in 2016 and revamped it to provide better and reliability connectivity for the organisation. The company PT Sentra Data commenced its services on 1 August 2016.
The Board of Trustees also approved for university students to serve their internships at the ASEAN Foundation. They also approved the ASEAN Foundation to accept students from universities from ASEAN’s dialogue partners. Two interns from University of Brunei Darussalam concluded their assignment with the ASEAN Foundation on 30 June 2016. In June 2016, the ASEAN Foundation received two interns from the Asia-Europe Institute, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia and the National University of Singapore, respectively. The ASEAN Foundation had discussions with the BINUS University to place their students particularly from their Communications Faculty. Furthermore, the ASEAN Foundation has initiated discussions with Universitas Indonesia.
WEI XUAN’S STORY – A LEARNING EXPERIENCE ABOVE AND BEYONDWei Xuan was one of the interns at the ASEAN Foundation in 2016. During his internship, the first-year Law student from the National University of Singapore, engaged in the fields of social development and international relations, which were 2 of his personal interests. He helped to craft proposals such as the ASEAN Science & Technology Fellowship and the ASEAN Volunteer Programme. In crafting these proposals, Wei Xuan had to ensure the programmes were effective and valuable to the beneficiaries, while working within ASEAN mandates and managing the interests of various stakeholders. It was a challenge, but he cherished the opportunity to learn and to make use of the writing and communications skills he learned in law school.
Wei Xuan got to attend ASEAN meetings and conferences to observe first-hand how these proceedings worked. He attended conferences such as “Update of Rule of Law for Human Rights in the ASEAN Region: A Baseline Study”, “Engaging a Wider Stakeholdership in Enhancing Regional Peace and Security”, and a conference on “China-ASEAN Production Capacity”.
There, he witnessed regional diplomats in their area of expertise. He said, “Watching diplomats balance the interest of multiple countries and find common ground to move forward
as an ASEAN Community gave me insights into valuable negotiation skills”. Through these sessions, Wei Xuan also gained a greater understanding of issues being faced by ASEAN at a regional level such as human rights and religious diversity.
But Wei Xuan wasn’t just a casual observer. “The Foundation afforded me a myriad of other opportunities to enhance my learning experience. My Executive Director and mentor would often share their insights into corporate governance and the skills involved in forming partnerships with private, public and civil society entities. The various meetings with ASEAN stakeholders allowed me to gather how the Foundation and its partners build mutually beneficial relationships”. Through his experiences and by interacting with his colleagues and superiors at the ASEAN Foundation, Wei Xuan’s gained a greater understanding why ASEAN works the way it does, such as
Programme /Grant Manager
Photo credit: Wei Xuan
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why the negotiation methods are different from the UN and EU.
Wei Xuan said, “ASEAN is sometimes a target for criticism because it is perceived as less integrated than the EU or inefficient. Having worked in ASEAN, the takeaway is that there are mechanisms in place, such as consensus-based decision-making and non-interference, which are intentionally designed for ASEAN’s particular geopolitics. An alternate view to the aforementioned criticisms would be that we take a relational approach built on carefulness and reticence”. Thus the way ASEAN works is tailored to ASEAN’s culture and the need for unity.
Wei Xuan was curious about life in Jakarta as well, and has fond memories of time spent with colleagues even on weekends as they brought him to their favourite jaunts in Jakarta. “They are always more than willing to answer my incessant questions about Indonesia’s history, politics and social issues in detail. I will treasure the laughs we shared over our many café adventures”, Wei Xuan fondly recounts.
“The lessons I learnt under the Foundation go beyond what one can glean from reading the news or studying textbooks. I hope that these lessons will continue to inform the kind of person that I aspire to be in the future”, Wei Xuan says. We wish you all the best in your future endeavours, Wei Xuan!
LOOKING FORWARD IN 2017
In celebration of turning 50 in the year 2017, one of the priorities of the
Philippines, who are 2017’s ASEAN chair, is to ensure that what ASEAN does is people-centred and people oriented. The ASEAN Foundation’s initiatives will emphasise this. Thus, looking forward in 2017, some of the initiatives that uphold this are: a) ASEAN Youth Citizen Journalism, b) SRE-ASEAN Community Forums, and c) SAP-ASEAN Foundation partnership.
a). Using the power of the media, the ASEAN Citizen Youth Journalism programme gets ASEAN youths to present impactful stories that pay homage to the ASEAN values and
ideals. These young journalists will learn how to use media formats to spread these important messages to other young people throughout ASEAN, and influence positive change in their communities.
b). The S Rajaratnam Endowment (SRE)-ASEAN Community Forum engages with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), getting them involved in the realisation of a shared ASEAN identity by 2025. They would gather insights and opinions of the respective characteristics and elements of the ASEAN community pillars, and developing solutions to work towards this shared identity.
c). The ASEAN Foundation and SAP partnership will run national and regional digital literacy activities for ASEAN youth in 2017, called the ASEAN Data Science Explorers competitions. These activities will enable young people to strengthen their abilities in the digital space, and in the context of ASEAN. Additionally, the activities will equip young people in ASEAN with entrepreneurial skills and drive creativity and innovation.
By focusing on specific groups on people in ASEAN, these people-centred and people-oriented initiatives help improve the lives of the people of ASEAN and build an ASEAN identity.
The ASEAN Foundation is interested to increase our donors and we are pleased to count SAP and S Rajaratnam Endowment as new supporters in 2017. We are pleased that Air Asia have agreed to establish a partnership on 15 August 2016 to organise the “Reporting ASEAN Media Forum” that will take place in Bangkok in February 2017. The ASEAN Foundation intends to strengthen its Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) system and increase its outreach through social media and marketing collaterals like factsheet of the Foundation’s initiatives, magazine and promotional materials.
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTSThe ASEAN Foundation maintain three types of accounts: the Endowment Fund, the Operation Fund and the Project Funds.
The Endowment Fund
The Endowment Fund is permanently restricted funding and it is currently invested in time deposit instruments. It was a one-time contribution from five ASEAN Member States and one institution, TIFA Foundation under the Friends of ASEAN programme.
The Operation Fund
The Operation Fund comprises of contribution from the ten ASEAN Member States, the earnings of the Endowment Fund and the project support fee. It finances the day-to-day operations of the organisation.
The Project Funds
The Project Funds are derived from the Japan-ASEAN Solidarity Fund, ASEAN Dialogue Partners and the private sector to fund the organisation’s initiatives as well as regional projects/activities. The Government of the Philippines establishes the Philippines Fund in 2011 to support project activities. In 2016, the ASEAN Foundation received grants from EU-IFAD, ASEAN U.S PROGRESS, Maybank Foundation, KBZ Group Myanmar and BHC- FCO UK Kuala Lumpur.
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Funds Composition as 31 December 2016 (in USD)
Project Funds remaining balance as of 31 December 2016
26%1,234,114
ProjectFund
67%3,220,000
EndowmentFund
Endowment Fundsas 31 December 2016 (in USD)
1,000,000
1,000,000
500,000
500,000
100,000
20,000
100,000
BruneiDarussalam
Indonesia
Malaysia
Singapore
The
PhilippinesYayasan
TIFA
Surplus
Fund
Philippines Fund
JASF
AFOSP
Korea
China
185,854
879,588
533
129,875 38,264
7%356,964
OperationalFund
3938
544,76110,252
3,3561,014,929
1,099
1,574,397
562,0373,5273,653
1,050,091744
1,620,052
-
-
830
(563,387)3,215,3363,220,000
5,871,949
5,872,779
52,620
52,62053,954
(679,655)2,561,7963,220,000
5,102,141
5,156,095
346 988
1,334
-830
830
CURRENT ASSETS Cash and cash equivalentsInterest receivablePrepaid ExpenseAdvancesAccount receivable
TOTAL CURRENT ASSETSNON CURRENT ASSETS
Restricted Bank AccountRestricted Time DepositFixed AssetsOther Assets
TOTAL NON CURRENT ASSETSTOTAL ASSETS
LIABILITIESShort Term Liabilities
Other PayablesAccrued Expenses
Total Short Term LiabilitiesLong Term Liability
Employee Benefit Liability
TOTAL LIABILITIESNET ASSETS
UnrestrictedRestrictedEndowments
TOTAL NET ASSETS
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS
THE ASEAN FOUNDATION STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION
AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2016 (EXPRESSED IN US DOLLAR)
ASSETS
LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS
2b, 3
4
910
Notes
Notes
2016
2016
2015
2015
1,046,4642,508,940
24,9541,340
3,581,6985,156,095
1,245,1382,974,577
31,7011,311
4,252,7275,872,779
56
2c, 78
2i, 11
2d2e
2f,12
The accompanying notes to financial statements form an integral part of these financial statements.
197,851 147,838
8,112152,635
12,938
519,374
(350,599) (783,513)
(7,479) -
(170,158)
(1,311,749)
(92,375)
316,572 150,000
69,374152,454
1,326
689,726
(337,970) (64,095)
(7,479)-
(170,158)
(1,459,534)
(769,808)
-150,000
69,374 152,127
1,326
372,827
(205,096)
(100,000)
(258,291)
(563,387)(2,241)
(114,027)
(679,655)
(350,779)(108,790)
(9,801)(52,620)
35,136
(486,854)
(114,027)
316,572 --
327-
316,899
3,749,420
-
(534,084)
3,215,3362,241
(655,781)
2,561,796
3,120,000
100,000
-
3,220,000--
3,220,000
6,664,324
-
(792,375)
5,871,949-
(769,808)
5,102,141
(972,680)----
(972,680)
(655,781)
------
-----
-
-
Total
Total
Total
REVENUES
GrantorsDonation & ContributionProject ContributionInterest IncomeOther Income
TOTAL REVENUES
EXPENDITURES
Managerial & General ExpenseProject CostDepreciation ExpensesGratuity ExpensesExchange Rate Difference
TOTAL EXPENDITURES
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS
Net Assets BeginningJanuary 1, 2015
Corrections
Change In Net Assets 2015
Net Assets EndingDecember 31, 2015Corrections
Change In Net Assets 2016
Net Assets EndingDecember 31, 2016
THE ASEAN FOUNDATIONSTATEMENTS OF ACTIVITIES
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2016(EXPRESSED IN US DOLLAR)
THE ASEAN FOUNDATIONSTATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETSFOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2016
(EXPRESSED IN US DOLLAR)
Notes
Notes
Unrestricted
Unrestricted
Restricted
Restricted
Endowment
Endowment
2016 2015
2e, 132d, 142d, 15
2d, 16
19
19
1718
The accompanying notes to financial statements form an integral part of these financial statements.
4140
(769,808)
9,801
(6,725)
297
35,161
(354)
(29)
160
52,620
346
(678,533)
198,674
(3,054)
465,637
661,257(17,276)
562,037
544,761
(792,375)
7,479
9,825
(17)
(219,417)
2,796
(1,311)
(185)
--
(993,205)
253,970
(18,059)
610,815
846,726 (146,479)
708,516
562,037
2015
Cash flows from operating activitiesChange in net assets
Adjustment to reconcile change in net assets to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation
Decrease (increase) in :
Interest Receivable
Prepaid Expense
Advances
Account Receivable
Security Deposit
Increase (decrease) in :
Accrued Expense
Employee Benefit
Other Payable
NET CASH USED IN OPERATING ACTIVITIESCASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITY
Decrease In Restricted Bank Accounts
Acquisition Of Fixed Assets
Restricted Time Deposit
NET CASH PROVIDED BY INVESTING ACTIVITIESNet Increase (Decrease) In Cash And Cash Equivalents
Cash And Cash Equivalents At Beginning Of Year
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT END OF YEAR
THE ASEAN FOUNDATIONSTATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2016(EXPRESSED IN US DOLLAR)
2016
OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES
The ASEAN Foundation Board of Trustees (BOT) consists of the
Permanent Representatives to ASEAN of the ten ASEAN Member States with the Secretary General of ASEAN and ASEAN Foundation Executive Director as ex-officio members. The BOT is the highest policy making body of the ASEAN Foundation and is responsible for the management of all funds, project approvals of all projects seeking financial support from the Foundation and approving the annual operation budget of the Foundation.
The BOT regularly meets twice a year to hear updates about project implementations, consolidate upcoming work plans and discuss management issues. In addition, the ASEAN Foundation Team comprises of dedicated personnel who are responsible for ensuring Foundation’s programmes benefit ASEAN people. The Foundation team is led by an Executive Director who is responsible for the day to day management of the organisation.
4342
OFFICER
Ms Yussy AgastutySr Finance and Accounting Officer
Ms. ReginaAccounting Officer
Ms Uni PrayutiSr Programme Officer
Ms Prima K SariProgramme Officer
Chair of the Board of Trustees of the ASEAN Foundation
H.E. Amb Shariffah Norhana Syed MustaffaPermanent Representative of Malaysia to ASEAN
Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the ASEAN Foundation
H.E. Amb. Min LwinPermanent Representative of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to ASEAN
MEMBERS
OUR TEAM
H.E. Pengiran Haiah Faezah Pengiran Haji Abdul RahmanPermanent Representative of Brunei Darussalam to ASEAN
H.E. Amb. Norng SakalPermanent Representative of the Kingdom of Cambodia to ASEAN
H.E. Amb. Rahmat PramonoPermanent Representative of Republic of Indonesia
H.E. Amb. Latsamy KeomanyPermanent Representative of Lao PDR to ASEAN
H.E. Amb. Elizabeth P. BuensucesoPermanent Representative of the Republic of the Philippines to ASEAN
H.E. Amb. Tan Hung SengPermanent Representative of the Republic of Singapore to ASEAN
Ms. Busadee SantipitaksPermanent Representative of the Kingdom of Thailand to ASEAN
H.E. Amb Nguyen Hoanh NamPermanent Representative of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to ASEAN
H.E Mr. Le Luong MinhSecretary GeneralThe ASEAN Secretariat
Ms. Elaine TanExecutive Director ofThe ASEAN Foundation
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE ASEAN FOUNDATION
Ms. Elaine TanExecutive Director of The ASEAN Foundation
MANAGEMENT
Ms Piranti SavitriHead of Finance and Administration
Ms Masayu Yulien VinandaCommunication & Marketing Manager
Ms Mirna MutiaraProgramme Manager
Mr ApriantoAFOSP Project Manager
SECRETARY
Ms Citra MontagnaSecretary
4544
OUR DONORS
Throughout 2016, the ASEAN Foundation has been successful in
implementing a number of activities across 10 ASEAN Member States. The Foundation’s activities would not have been possible without the contribution
of our donors. The ASEAN Foundation thanks all donors and partners for their continuous support in realizing shared prosperity and a sustainable future for the peoples of all ASEAN Member States.
DONOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ENDOWMENT FUND
DONOR CONTRIBUTION TO THE OPERATION FUND 10 ASEAN MEMBER STATES
DONOR CONTRIBUTION TO THE PROJECT FUND
BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
SINGAPORE
INDONESIA
THE PHILIPPINES
MALAYSIA
EUROPEAN UNION
CHINASOUTH KOREA
THE PHILIPPINES
KBZ - MYANMAR
TIFA FOUNDATION
BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
MYANMAR
CAMBODIA
THE PHILIPPINES
INDONESIA
SINGAPORE
LAO PDR
THAILAND
MALAYSIA
VIET NAM
4746
48
Jl. Sam Ratulangi No.2,Menteng, Jakarta 10350INDONESIA
Phone : +62 21 3192 4828Fax : +62 21 3192 6078E-mail : [email protected]
www.aseanfoundation.org
