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ASEAN, UNICEF sign framework agreement for cooperation

A Framework Agreement for Cooperation (FAC) between the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was signed in Jakarta, Indonesia on December 4.

A Framework Agreement forCooperation (FAC) between the Association of Southeast Asia Nations(ASEAN) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was signed inJakarta, Indonesia on December 4.

The signatories included ASEANSecretary-General Le Luong Minh and UNICEF Regional Director for EastAsia and the Pacific Daniel Toole.

The FAC sets an actionprogramme for the next five years and beyond with a view to pursue thesurvival, sustainable growth, full development and participation ofchildren.

The goal is also in line with the Convention on theRights of the Child, the Millennium Declaration and the MillenniumDevelopment Goals, as well as the global post-2015 development agenda.

Speakingat the signing ceremony, Minh encouraged the UNICEF Regional Office forEast Asia and the Pacific to work closely with related ASEAN bodies,especially its Secretariat, on a concrete action plans to realise theFAC goals.

Minh also stressed the importance of a sustainableapproach to ASEAN-UNICEF cooperation through the pursuance of amulti-year programme and the mobilisation of stable funding resources toimplement joint activities.

For his part, Daniel Toolereaffirmed UNICEF's commitment to working with ASEAN on the promotion ofchildren's rights, saying that the implementation of the FAC willsupport the newly adopted ASEAN-UN Work Plan for 2015 as well as otherframework agreements signed between ASEAN and other UN agencies,contributing to the drafting of another plan for the beyond-2015 period.

TheASEAN-UNICEF FAC is the second framework agreement that ASEAN hasconcluded with an UN agency after the entry into force of the ASEANCharter in 2008. Earlier, ASEAN signed a FAC with the United NationsEducational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in December2013.-VNA

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