Themes

The year 2020 was supposed to be the environment’s “super year,” as named by the UN Environment Programme (United Nations Environment Programme 2020: A Crunch Year for the Biodiversity and Climate Emergencies, 2019). This milestone was set way before there was any indication of a virus that would cause a global pandemic.

The ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Pollution (AATHP), signed by the ASEAN Member States in 2002, is a global model and the first regional arrangement in the world. The AATHP has played a crucial role as a primary driver of ASEAN to tackle the haze challenges in the region jointly.

The year 2020 has been a year of unprecedented events, brought on by the spread of COVID-19 across the world. The pandemic has significant impacts not only on public health and economic growth but also on the environment.

In response to the rapidly changing work landscape in the region, ASEAN’s labour sector has been working hard to ensure that people in the region, especially its youth, will be well equipped with needed skills.

Year 2020 was a year fraught with unprecedented challenges in the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet it is the throes of adversity that bring out the best in us, no better exemplified than by how ASEAN has weathered many crises and emerged even stronger and more confident together over the past decades.

Delivering quality education to prepare today’s learners for the challenges of a rapidly changing, highly globalised, and technology-driven world has been the overarching goal of ASEAN Member States for many years.