The 8 th ASEAN Senior Officials' Meeting on Social Welfare andDevelopment (SOMSWD 8) was held in Hanoi on September 13.
In his opening remarks, Vietnam ’s Deputy Minister of Labour, WarInvalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) Nguyen Trong Dam said that over thepast few years, ASEAN member nations have focused on raising the levelof social welfare and security for their citizens with many projects,activities and initiatives at both national and regional levels.
They have carried out their commitments to improve social welfare andincluded them in their national programmes and policies, he said.
However, Dam noted that the region still faces high poverty andunemployment rates and continuous natural disasters, resulting in manyfatalities and serious financial losses.
ASEANcountries need to boost cooperation and the exchange of information andexperiences to effectively address emerging social issues, especiallythose related to the rights and interests of women, children, thedisabled, old and other disadvantaged groups, he suggested.
The SOMSWD 8, themed ‘Promoting Social Welfare and Security forDisadvantaged People’, took place in the context of intensive andextensive ASEAN commitments on social welfare and development.
Thegrouping’s priorities on social welfare for women and children as wellas providing more services for the disabled have been pledged by ASEANleaders in a number of declarations.
The selection ofthe theme as well as measures to ensure social welfare is down to ASEANefforts and determination to implement the ASEAN Socio-CulturalCommunity (ASCC) plan to help speed up the formation of an ASEANCommunity by 2015.
SOMSWD 8 focused onthe implementation and supervision of the ASCC’s plan on socialwelfare and assessed the ASEAN’s progress in reaching its MillenniumDevelopment Goals. The group’s declaration to promote the inclusion ofthe disabled and action plans on social welfare, the family and childrenwas also debated.
The meeting agreed on the agendaand contents for discussions at the 7 th ASEAN Senior Officials’Meeting on Social Welfare and Development with China, Japan and theRepublic of Korea (SOMSWD+3).
The outcomes of theSOMSWD 8 will be presented at the ASEAN Minister’s Meeting on SocialWelfare and Development (AMMSWD), which will convene in Cambodia in2013.
The results will also be shared at an ASCCmeeting held during the 21 st ASEAN Summit, to boost social service andsecurity for disadvantaged people proposed by Vietnam .
SOMSWD is an important annual forum for ASEAN senior officials incharge of social welfare to discuss their policies for disadvantagedgroups to implement the AMMSWD’s decisions. SOMSWD 7 took place inThailand with the theme ‘Establishment of the Social Protection Flooron Social Welfare and Development in ASEAN’.-VNA
In his opening remarks, Vietnam ’s Deputy Minister of Labour, WarInvalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) Nguyen Trong Dam said that over thepast few years, ASEAN member nations have focused on raising the levelof social welfare and security for their citizens with many projects,activities and initiatives at both national and regional levels.
They have carried out their commitments to improve social welfare andincluded them in their national programmes and policies, he said.
However, Dam noted that the region still faces high poverty andunemployment rates and continuous natural disasters, resulting in manyfatalities and serious financial losses.
ASEANcountries need to boost cooperation and the exchange of information andexperiences to effectively address emerging social issues, especiallythose related to the rights and interests of women, children, thedisabled, old and other disadvantaged groups, he suggested.
The SOMSWD 8, themed ‘Promoting Social Welfare and Security forDisadvantaged People’, took place in the context of intensive andextensive ASEAN commitments on social welfare and development.
Thegrouping’s priorities on social welfare for women and children as wellas providing more services for the disabled have been pledged by ASEANleaders in a number of declarations.
The selection ofthe theme as well as measures to ensure social welfare is down to ASEANefforts and determination to implement the ASEAN Socio-CulturalCommunity (ASCC) plan to help speed up the formation of an ASEANCommunity by 2015.
SOMSWD 8 focused onthe implementation and supervision of the ASCC’s plan on socialwelfare and assessed the ASEAN’s progress in reaching its MillenniumDevelopment Goals. The group’s declaration to promote the inclusion ofthe disabled and action plans on social welfare, the family and childrenwas also debated.
The meeting agreed on the agendaand contents for discussions at the 7 th ASEAN Senior Officials’Meeting on Social Welfare and Development with China, Japan and theRepublic of Korea (SOMSWD+3).
The outcomes of theSOMSWD 8 will be presented at the ASEAN Minister’s Meeting on SocialWelfare and Development (AMMSWD), which will convene in Cambodia in2013.
The results will also be shared at an ASCCmeeting held during the 21 st ASEAN Summit, to boost social service andsecurity for disadvantaged people proposed by Vietnam .
SOMSWD is an important annual forum for ASEAN senior officials incharge of social welfare to discuss their policies for disadvantagedgroups to implement the AMMSWD’s decisions. SOMSWD 7 took place inThailand with the theme ‘Establishment of the Social Protection Flooron Social Welfare and Development in ASEAN’.-VNA
