Children First

1.1 trillion hours of in-person learning lost

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, ASEAN Member States have seen school closures impacting more than 152 million children in the Southeast Asian region (Thomas, 2022). School closures and the sudden transition from face-to-face to digital modalities have resulted in significant learning loss and socio-emotional challenges for teachers and learners. 

In recent years, Southeast Asia has become an emerging hub for a vibrant contemporary art scene. The rapid growth of the region’s creative industries has given birth to many creative spaces and galleries, providing platforms for local artists to develop and showcase their work. 

A child shall have the right to Children have the right to think for The ASEAN Ministers of Social Welfare and freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child’s choice. – Article 12, Convention on the Rights of the A Child

The call for impactful and sustainable actions to end child labour is more urgent now, as the world faces a protracted pandemic and an impending global economic crisis. For over a decade, ASEAN has joined forces to combat the worst forms of child labour as part of its broader vision of building an inclusive ASEAN Community.

Creating Jobs, Bringing ASEAN Closer to SDGs

Entering the Fourth Decade of Cooperation

Recovering swiftly from the COVID-19 pandemic and building a crisis-resilient regional health system remain the top priorities of the ASEAN health sector.

ASEAN’s aspiration to produce a highly skilled and productive workforce to prop up economic growth may be in peril.

Environmental changes have been wreaking havoc on Southeast Asian communities.

Minister Khattiya provides an overview of ASEAN’s goals and strategies for upholding the rights and advancing the well-being of children in the region. She talks about the progress made in terms of protecting children from violence and increasing access to education. She also cites ongoing challenges, such as poverty and inequality, that affect children’s welfare.

ACWC is a consultative body that supports the work of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Social Welfare and Development. ACWC Chair and Cambodian Ministry of Women’s Affairs Under Secretary Hou Nirmita talks about the role of the Commission in securing the rights of women and children in the region.

Bullying of children is becoming a pervasive concern in the region. Director General Luu Quang Tuan shares with The ASEAN, some of the initiatives started by ASEAN to protect children from bullying, both online and offline.

UNICEF says approximately one billion children are at an “extremely high risk” of the impacts of the climate change crisis. Research has shown that children born now will face much more extreme weather and other climate disasters than their grandparents experienced in their lifetimes.  The ASEAN asked children in the region about the impact of global warming on their families and communities and how they can  help stop it.

Five children candidly share how the pandemic affected their daily lives, how it altered their views and attitudes, and what lessons they learned from the experience.

One hundred fifty-two million students in the region were forced to shift to remote and online learning when the COVID-19 pandemic led to prolonged school closures. Eight children share how they coped with this abrupt transition and what they liked or disliked about their virtual classes.

Children relate their experiences and feelings in the most fascinating and amusing ways. But their stories are often insightful and profound, giving us a glimpse of how they view the world. During the pandemic, the view for Hannah and Callum Goh and Zach Bautista was from the confines of their homes. They wrote, illustrated, and published books that deal with the complex topics of death and loss, of not losing hope and chasing one’s dreams.