Youth Collective Statement 2021

We, the young people of Southeast Asia, express our utmost concern for the deteriorating democracy across the region. We are deeply saddened by the erosion of fundamental human rights through the struggle for political power. We further express our concern for the continued suffering caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, we have managed to preserve our resolution and pursue our mission towards living in a rights-based, people centered and inclusive ASEAN.

We have highlighted 7 thematic concerns namely peace, politics, and democracy; decent work and unemployment; comprehensive sexuality education and access to sexual and reproductive health and rights; youth network and organizations; freedom of expression and right to information; rights of migrants; and the climate emergency. In achieving our mission, we hereby call on ASEAN/government leaders, civil societies, NGO, CSO, private sector and youth in the region to act on these concerns to secure the future of all youth across the region.

We call on ASEAN Policymakers and Government Leaders to:

1. Sustain and restore peace, fair politics, and democracy in Southeast Asia by:

• • Developing a specialized policy to exclude the non-interference principle where a member State has used excessive and indiscriminate force against peaceful civilian protestors, followed by an implementation of a weapons embargo to prevent escalation of violence and further loss of civilian lives.
  • Prioritizing the provision and distribution of humanitarian aid to civilians in need in response to an ongoing conflict or following the occurrence of a disaster.
  • Creating equal opportunities for women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQIA+ communities, indigenous communities, religious minorities, people with disabilities and other marginalized communities to participate in public life and the political process. This can be strengthened by the enactment of hate-crime legislation to deter the commission of bias-motivated violence.

2. Ensure decent work, tackle youth unemployment and unemployment due to COVID-19 by:

• • Determining minimum wage rates based on the needs of workers and their families to attain a decent standard of living including the ability to cover basic health services.
  • Establishing a standard for national employment policies that is inclusive to all communities by considering the different needs of individuals i.e., reasonable adjustment for enabling access to people with disabilities or mental health counselling.
  • Ramping up COVID-19 vaccinations program for the virus to be less consequential with the increase of immunity thereby allowing workers to return to their workplaces and for job seekers to have an increased chance of securing employment.
  • Investing in youth work training programs to ensure youth in the region can keep up with the globalized job market.

3. Ensure Implementation of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) for youth by:

• • Revamping teachers’ training programs to enable the introduction of sexual education at the appropriate level in schools or other forms of educational systems.
  • Allocating resources to establish sexual health centers for youth to receive age-appropriate and gender-sensitive consultation with experts and access to free/affordable birth control and/or menstruation supplies.
  • Organizing national safe sex campaigns with a targeted reach of youth in both urban and rural areas to increase awareness of the importance of consent for engaging in sexual activities, sexually transmitted infections, forced marriage and union, child, early, and unintended pregnancy, and avenues to report sexual violence.
  • Creating or introducing a national policy to guarantee the implementation of CSE and access to SRHR followed by proper implementation of such policy.

4. Support/include youth networks and organizations in policymaking process by:

• • Providing a seat for youth-led organizations in discussions of policies that impact youth the most.
  • Establishing funding opportunities for youth-led initiatives that serve as a platform for youths from all backgrounds to analyze/criticize existing youth policies.
  • Strengthening privacy laws and providing a safe space to encourage and enable youth networks and organizations to mobilize their activism or participate free from any form of intimidation or retaliation.
  • Ensuring diverse candidates from youth organizations are fully represented.
  • Extending professional gateway programming for youth to pursue careers in leadership roles.

5. Bridge the digital divide in urban and rural areas; protect freedom of expression and right to information for youth by:

• • Boosting internet infrastructure development to enable adequate access to the internet and improve digital literacy particularly for youth in rural areas and the disadvantaged communities such as ethnic minorities and indigenous people.
  • Enacting data protection laws to secure individual’s digital privacy and eliminate arbitrary surveillance followed by mechanisms for prosecuting breach of personal data usage by either public or private actors.
  • Ensuring transparency in the development of national and transnational issues without redaction or altercation.
  • Bridging the gender digital divide and ensure that girls and those of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, expression, sex characteristics are provided equal online access as their peers.

6. Support the needs of youth in migration, refugees, asylum seekers and migrant workers by:

• • Creating a regional framework that covers protection and access to basic rights and services for refugees and asylum seekers with consideration to the non-refoulement principle and resettlement procedures.
  • Consulting with migrant communities to make the necessary amendments to local labor laws to incorporate protection from exploitation by local employers and wage theft.
  • Improving the condition of reception or detention centers to adhere to the International Standards of Immigration Detention and Non-custodial Measures.
  • Providing access to legal representation without discrimination.

7. Act on the climate emergency, promote eco-lifestyles, issue responsible land permits and champion green projects by:

• • Strengthening laws on environmental protection and sustainability by tackling waste management, ensuring wildlife conservation, and safeguarding endangered species, reversing deforestation, and reducing industrial-scale slash-and-burn activities that lead to widespread haze problems. Followed by ensuring accountability for its violators be it a public or private actor.
  • Shaping societies’ mindset through promotion of green economic activities, advancing initiatives that eliminate utilization of single-use plastic and encourage creative recycling methods.
  • Conducting extensive risk assessment for potential environmental damage prior to issuance of land rights.

In support of the above-mentioned calls, we encourage civil societies, NGO, CSO and private sector to:

1. Continue to spread awareness on human rights issues which impact youth by collaborating with other organizations to amplify its reach in various communities.
2. Advocate for inclusivity for all communities through creating safe spaces for youth to represent themselves at any level of societal interaction.
3. Provide support for youth through financial, mentorship, educational, employment and mental health programs to increase their personal capacity to create on-ground change.
4. Promote healthy engagements and mindsets for better societal interaction by combating xenophobia, discrimination, hate speech and hate crime.
5. Implement paid internship programs for youths to eliminate exploitation of youth labor.
6. Navigate business activities according to the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) approach, such as the banning of single-use plastic within product development processes and other sustainable manufacturing methods to market eco-friendly products and services.
7. Ensure human rights-based, gender transformative and inclusive initiatives and programs for young people.

We further call on Youth in SEA to:

1. Be an active member of society by standing in solidarity with other nations who are struggling for democracy, expressing opinions or concerns on situations that are clear/potential violation of human rights, participating in youth forums and joining campaigns to support human rights advocacy and persist in holding violators of human rights accountable.
2. Promote networking and organizing activities amongst youth to maximize their opportunity and enhance their soft skills.
3. Practice environmentally conscious lifestyles by reducing the consumption of single-use plastic, general plastic, and nonrenewable resources, utilizing reusable products, collecting rubbish from local communities to dispatch to waste banks, supporting climate justice advocates, and passing down such lifestyles to the younger generations.
4. Model gender equality and social inclusion on a day-to-day basis.

We, the youth of Southeast Asia, value morals that advance human dignity, justice, democracy, freedom, and peace. We shall cooperate in promising a future where empathy, respect, individuality, and inclusivity stand as principal foundations for building better Southeast Asian communities.

September 2021

Youth of Southeast Asia