SIEM REAP, 28 July 2022 – Over 60 youth delegates from ASEAN and the Republic of Korea (ROK) gathered in Siem Reap for the inaugural ASEAN Youth Dialogue on 25-26 July.
The Dialogue featured a series of knowledge and capacity development sessions to advance ASEAN through strengthened cooperation with ROK, panel discussions, focus group discussion, ASEAN Talk (Live Edition), and World Café.
ASEAN and ROK youth delegates, who had in these sessions pre-agreed on a set of policy recommendations, conveyed them to ministers and high-level representatives of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Youth, as well as Secretary-General of ASEAN Dato Lim Jock Hoi, who were present at the event.
In line with the dialogue theme Youth in the Era of Fourth Industrial Revolution: Opportunities and Challenges in Post-Pandemic Recovery youth delegates’ policy recommendation focused on centering the active role of youth in socio-economic recovery efforts by leveraging on accelerated digital literacy and environmental conservation for climate change adaptation.
“This is why as policy-makers, it is important for us to give our youth plenty of opportunities to voice their ideas and perspectives, and translate those into concrete actions,” said Dato Lim Jock Hoi, in his keynote speech.
“Institutionalising youth engagement mechanisms is a central part of this, as it provides our young people with durable platforms to effect change at the national, regional and global levels,” he added.
At the Opening Ceremony, Kwon Hee Seog, Ambassador of Korea to ASEAN, mentioned that “we have to seize the promises and opportunities these new technologies offer.”
The policy recommendations focused on eight thematic areas, namely governance; science, technology and innovation; the future of work; infrastructure and connectivity; inclusive and sustainable growth; climate change; narrowing the development gap in ASEAN; and ASEAN-ROK people-to-people exchanges. One youth delegate from either ASEAN or ROK read through the recommendation, representing each of the thematic areas.
Towards the end of the Dialogue, ROK Minister of Gender Equality and Family Kim Hyunsook, delivered his remarks through a pre-recorded video. “I believe this Dialogue was highly meaningful in that ASEAN and Korean youths shared the results of their discussion on the future of work, science and technology, and climate change, in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution with ASEAN ministers and high-level representatives,” he said.
Further, Cambodian Minister of Education, Youth and Sport Hang Chuon Naron, concluded the Dialogue, stating that, “while we focus on artificial technology, we must also strive to educate our young people to become quality individuals and good global citizens. We must make education equitable to bring more benefits to humanity.”
The ASEAN Youth Dialogue is aligned with priorities set by Cambodia for its ASEAN chairmanship this year themed ASEAN A.C.T.: Addressing Challenges Together. It is part of the 2022 Year of ASEAN Youth flagship activities and commitments under the ASEAN Work Plan on Youth 2021-2025.
Speakers at the event included representatives from Global Shapers Alumni of the World Economic Forum, Quantum Engineering and Manufacturing, United Nations Population Fund, ASEAN Foundation, Me. Reka Academy, Ethnicity/Jos Creative, Octopus Indonesia and the Asia-Africa Centre of Seoul National University, among others.
ASEAN Secretariat and the Cambodian Education, Youth and Sport Ministry co-organised the event with the support of the ROK government through the ASEAN-Korea Cooperation Fund, and in coordination with the ROK Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and the ASEAN-Korea Centre.
Recommendations agreed by the 1st ASEAN Youth Dialogue are available here.
Livestreamed sessions are available through these links:
Day 1 – https://youtu.be/Smi218KctJc
Day 2 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITZBOJJTdOs
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