KUALA LUMPUR: The Asean Young Leaders Summit was today concluded with the finalisation of a manifesto that would forge greater alliances, fundamental to addressing the challenges faces by youth in the region.
The Youth Manifesto for Asean, which will be handed to Asean chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak tomorrow, also adds a global outlook pertinent to the establishment of more concrete involvement from this segment of society in the building of Asean's future.
In his closing address, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin expressed his satisfaction that the manifesto developed over three days by over 500 delegates had met the fundamentals set forth by the organisers which was to be a pragmatic, feasible and most of which could be implemented.
The manifesto laid out two proposals each from groups representing the four pillars of the youth summit - leadership, voluntarism, entrepreneurship and education and employment.
"As a whole, the manifesto laid out proposals which were realistic, mainly in the prerequisite key areas," said Khairy.
"Maybe there are some obstacles in the form of technology and its reach to rural areas in Asean. But we have some innovative solutions to that which were also laid out," he said.
"It is not just about trying to implement all proposals as quickly as possible. The ones which are feasible should be implemented swiftly.
"Some can be rolled out Asean-wide, while others may have to be implemented in stages."
Officiating the closing ceremony of the Asean Young Leaders Summit was former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who called for the youth to value the unity forged through Asean and ensure that it continues to grow.
Among the pertinent points of the manifesto was the leadership branch proposal for the establishment of the Asean Youth Assembly to be accountable for implementation of recommendations from youth-centric Asean summits.
The volunteerism branch proposed a platform to coordinate and measure the impact of volunteerism in the region, apart from the creation of governments funded youth volunteering components in secondary schools.
The education and employment branch proposed a two-part initiative involving e-learning and teaching stints in rural areas, along with an Asean apprenticeship programme.
The entrepreneurship branch called for the introduction of an entrepreneurship curriculum in secondary schools with classroom, hands-on and skills components as well as community-based programmes.
That branch also proposed the establishment of the Enterprise Asean Network, a coordinating platform.