ASEAN, UNICEF sign framework agreement for cooperation

JAKARTA - The Southeast Asia regional bloc of ASEAN signed an agreement with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)to pursue sustainable survival, growth, full development and participation of children, a statement released by the ASEAN Secretariat said here on Thursday.

The goal is also in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals, as well as the global post-2015 development agenda.

The ASEAN-UNICEF Framework Agreement for Cooperation (FAC) would set the course of cooperative actions between ASEAN and UNICEF for the next five years and beyond. The agreement was signed by ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh and UNICEF Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific Daniel Toole.

Speaking at the signing ceremony held in ASEAN Secretariat on Wednesday, Le Luong Minh encouraged the UNICEF Regional Office for East Asia and the Pacific to work closely with related ASEAN bodies and ASEAN Secretariat on a concrete action plans in realizing the FAC goals.

Minh also reminded the importance of a sustainable approach to ASEAN-UNICEF cooperation through the pursuance of multi-year programs and mobilization of stable funding resources to implement joint activities.

For his part, Daniel Toole reaffirmed the UNICEF's commitment to working with ASEAN on the promotion of children's rights.

Minh and Toole agreed that implementation of the FAC should support the goals that are set for the newly adopted ASEAN-UN Work Plan for 2015.

They also expected that it would complement with other framework agreements ASEAN and other UN Agencies, contribute to the planning of ASEAN-UN cooperation in the post-2015 period.

The ASEAN-UNICEF FAC is the second framework agreement that ASEAN has concluded with an UN Agency after the entry into force of the ASEAN Charter in 2008.

ASEAN had earlier signed the Framework of Agreement for Cooperation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in December 2013.