At the meeting, participants discussed issues related to the agenda of the summit, scheduled for Hanoi on December 6.

In his opening speech, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dam Huu Dac stressed that to meet the new requirements in the region and the world, ASEAN member countries have agreed to promote cooperation and integration towards the building of an ASEAN Community by 2015 based on the three pillars: the ASEAN Security Community, ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community. They aim to create a stronger, more united and cohesive ASEAN which can better deal with increased trans-national issues and look to deeper integration and linkages in the future. Therefore, he said the 6^th ASEAN Ministerial Summit will have the task of mapping out action plans to fulfill the commitment.

In addition, the summit will pay special attention to initiatives and proposals put forth by ASEAN member countries to realize their set targets.

Mr Dac pointed out the fact that poverty and unemployment rate in the region remains high, while natural disasters occur very often with complicated changes, resulting in great human and material losses.

“We should join hands to assist underprivileged people in society, cooperate and share information and experience to effectively deal with social issues in the region, particularly issues related to the rights of women, children, the poor, the disabled, the elderly and other vulnerable groups,” said Mr Dac.

Recommendations to ASEAN Ministers

The second ASEAN Government - Non-governmental Organization Forum (the ASEAN GO - NGO Forum) in Hanoi on December 3 came up with 12 recommendations to the senior officials meeting. The Forum acknowledged the International Council for Social Welfare (ICSW)’s draft research papers on social protection and human trafficking in the Southeast Asia and Pacific Region. It called on National Councils for Social Welfare and relevant ASEAN agencies to undertake national consultations on these papers to enable the relevant country chapters and recommendation sections of these documents to be enriched and finalized for presentation and deliberation at the next ASEAN GO – NGO Forum. ICSW will coordinate the consultation process.

In addition, ASEAN member countries have issued declarations on human trafficking, and they should develop a plan of action to implement these declarations taking into account the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT) process in the Greater Mekong Sub-region.

In relation to Persons with Disabilities (PWD), the forum noted that there continues to be a large gap between policy and implementation of activities. The forum recommended the development of a formal process of collaboration between GO and NGOs, both nationally and regionally, to address key issues, with both GO and NGOs to report back at the next ASEAN GO – NGO Forum on progress. Issues for consideration include the following:

The need for policies which mainstream PWD and which reflect the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) rights-based approach.

The need to include PWD and relevant NGOs at the local and national levels not only in the development and establishment of government policies and programmes to assist PWD but also in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of these policies and programmes.