As an officially recognized organization by the ASEAN Secretariat, A.Y.O. committed to boost awareness of the
ASEAN Community through each facet of society, particularly the youth sector. To meet this huge commitment,
A.Y.O. has set these objectives:
1.
To serve as an avenue and platform for the youth for the free-exchange of information and ideas on matters
of interest within and outside ASEAN;
2.
To promote awareness and interest towards the establishment of ASEAN Community and its three
respective pillars (Political–Security Community, Economic Community, and Socio-Cultural Community);
3.
To foster long-lasting friendship and understanding between ASEAN and non-ASEAN members;
4.
To cooperate and collaborate with governments, NGOs, private organizations, and the ASEAN Secretariat
on matters that would realize the ideals of the ASEAN Youth Organization; and
5.
To empower the youth by organizing and conducting projects to improve their knowledge, skills, attitudes,
and behaviors by instilling in them forward-looking ideas that would result in positive change in their
respective communities.
With the objectives in place, A.Y.O., together with its network chapters in ASEAN and other community
associations in Japan and Australia, started to extensively initiate and implement projects focused on youth
empowerment. One of the projects is a bi-weekly training for officers and members, to exchange ideas and
knowledge, coordinate collaboration, and encourage healthy competition among other youth networks. A.Y.O. has
already started projects such as biodiversity conservation in Mt. Papandayan with ASEAN Youth Organization
Indonesia and ASEAN Friendship Tourism (AFT), the first in Myanmar in 2014 and Indonesia in 2015. The
organization believes that this can contribute to stronger friendship ties within ASEAN. Other chapters carried out
several projects as well.
With the positive outcome of their initial programs and projects, A.Y.O. is determined to come up with additional
projects and programs that will have a wider reach, to include the rest of society in each ASEAN member country.
28 Asean Life APR 2016
Photos from A.Y.O. Facebook page