We had an inspiring, productive dialogue with 15 remarkable delegates from student and youth organisations in Asia and Europe about Higher Education Policies Working towards the SDGs in Asia and Europe! In partnership with the ASEAN Youth Organisation (AYO), we organised the ASEF Policy Dialogue with Youth as a side event to their flagship annual event, the ASEAN Youth Conference, which were held back-to-back from 2 to 5 November 2023 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
We welcomed representatives from ASEFEdu’s longtime partner organisations such as the European Students’ Union (ESU), Erasmus Student Network (ESN), Global Student Forum (GSF), Student Think-Tank for Europe-Asia Relations (STEAR), and AYO. We are also proud to have representatives from new dialogue partners such as the Asian International Mobility for Students (AIMS) Programme Alumni Network, the Union of Youth Federation of Cambodia, United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN) Youth Initiative, Asian Law Students’ Association (ALSA), Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR), and University of Santo Tomas (UST).
This group of passionate young leaders had a full day of workshops, which was opened by inspiring messages from:
- Rodora BABARAN, Director of Human Development, ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Department, ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC). Her message focused on various initiatives that reinforce how higher education enables ASEAN countries to move forward and achieve sustainable development.
- Lukas GAJDOS, Acting Head of Delegation/Chargé d’Affaires a.i., Delegation of the European Union to ASEAN. He talked about the EU’s multiple exciting platforms and initiatives for youth in Europe and ASEAN such as the EU-SHARE Programme and other efforts for regional harmonisation in higher education.
- Michael Nugraha BUDIARTO, Managing Director, ASEAN Youth Organisation (AYO). He reiterated AYO’s commitment to promote cultural exchange, and to better understand what each region has to offer and how we can tackle globalized challenges together.
- Reka TOZSA, Director of the Education Department, Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF). She thanked the ASEAN Secretariat for hosting the event and AYO for their partnership in building synergies and supporting each other in building impactful peer-to-peer networks across Asia and Europe to address the SDGs.
We also had the pleasure of having Dr Roger CHAO, Head of the Education, Youth, and Sports Division of the ASEAN Secretariat, deliver a keynote message. His talk highlighted the importance of building inclusive partnerships, evidence-based policymaking, building supportive networks and pursuing sustainable initiatives as part of a global community.
The workshops, similar to previous ARC9 policy dialogues, gathered insights and recommendations from young leaders based on the findings of the 9th ASEF Regional Conference on Higher Education (ARC9) project’s report titled “Asia-Europe Higher Education Mapping: Working Towards the SDGs” (see full report here). Results of these discussions will be forwarded to the 9th ASEM Education Ministers Meeting (ASEMME9) in 2024. Our participants made sound recommendations on funding improvements, youth involvement in policymaking, and building more areas for robust Asia-Europe collaboration in higher education. Once available, the full dialogue report will be uploaded here, so stay tuned!
After the policy dialogue, our delegates proceeded to join 100+ other delegates in the ASEAN Youth Conference 2023. This year, guided by the theme “Guardians of the Sustainable Future for a Resilient ASEAN,” AYC gathered international young leaders and changemakers who are keen to share their thoughts about various persisting challenges and opportunities in our society and help develop and implement international projects. This will be the youth’s contribution to implementing the agenda for peace, stability, solidarity, unity, prosperity, and sustainability in ASEAN in accordance with Indonesia’s ASEAN chairmanship theme, “ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth.”
We look forward to more opportunities to help strengthen the youth’s voice and work with them in contributing to the achievement of the SDGs!
Take a look at the full narrative report containing the discussion points and list of recommendations here.
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