INTRODUCTION

1. I would like to welcome you all to Jakarta.  The ASEAN Secretariat is delighted to co-organize this concept workshop on human security with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization or UNESCO.

2. I specially welcome those who had to cut short their holiday at the end of Ramadan just to be here today.  I hope that you will find this workshop worthwhile.  

3. This workshop is not the first time that the ASEAN Secretariat is working with UNESCO.  We have co-organised various activities with UNESCO in the past.  Our collaboration is also not limited to issues of peace and security.  

4. Eight years ago, we successfully held a Regional Symposium on Cooperative Peace in Southeast Asia, which issued the Statement on Peace in Southeast Asia on the Eve of the Third Millennium.  That symposium contributed to the momentum that led to the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaiming the year 2000 as the International Year for the Culture of Peace.

5. The ASEAN Secretariat is also working with UNESCO in the field of science and technology.  For example, UNESCO has provided ASEAN with experts to review the publication of the ASEAN Science and Technology Indicators as well as to prepare for the Technology Scan Roundtable.  UNESCO also helped us established the ASEAN Virtual Institute of Science and Technology, which currently offers courses in bioinformatics, ecotourism, and technology management.  We should be able to do more in the fields of culture and education. 

HUMAN SECURITY DEFINED

6. It is broadly accepted that the traditional goal of “national security” has been the defence of the state from external threats.  But with more people being killed from civil war or domestic violence rather than external conflict, a new approach to security has become necessary.  In contrast, therefore, the focus of human security is the protection of individuals.

7. The above premise seems to have been well recognized.  The debate lies in the scope of protection, such as whether it should be limited to freedom from fear or it should include freedom from want and freedom to take action on one’s own behalf.  After all, while more than 800,000 people a year lose their lives to violence, about 2.8 billion suffer from poverty, ill health, illiteracy, and other maladies, not to mention gross violations of basic human rights.  Further complications arise on the question of the role of national and international authorities and their inter-relationship in promoting human security.

ASEAN’S APPROACH

8. ASEAN has long recognized the need for a comprehensive approach to security.  The 1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation called it “national resilience” in political, economic, and socio-cultural spheres.  The ASEAN Vision 2020 called it “total human development.”  Finally, our most recent guide, the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II, specifically stated that ASEAN “subscribes to the principle of comprehensive security as having broad political, economic, social and cultural aspects.”

9. Under the Vientiane Action Programme, ASEAN commits to build a socio-cultural community with particular emphasis on the following four strategic thrusts: (a) establish strong and functional systems of social protection that address poverty, equity and health impacts of economic growth; (b) promote environmental sustainability and sustainable natural resource management that meets current and future needs; (c) promote social governance that manages impacts of economic integration; and (d) preserve and promote the region's cultural heritage and cultural identity.

10. ASEAN has gone beyond addressing traditional security issues.  The ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime is carrying out the ASEAN Plan of Action to Combat Transnational Crime.  They have identified the following threats to human security as follows: illicit drug trafficking; trafficking in persons; arms smuggling; terrorism; and various forms of economic crimes.

11. With greater sense of urgency after the devastation caused by tsunami in December 2004, ASEAN concluded the Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response in July 2005.   In the field of public health, ASEAN is being guided by the Regional Framework for the Control and Eradication of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.  And in recognition of our interdependence with our Northeast Asian neighbors, we have entered into the ASEAN Plus Three Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme to build on the work of the ASEAN Disease Surveillance Network.

12. Every now and then, some parts of the ASEAN region suffer from haze pollution resulting from forest fires.  Its impact is not limited to disrupting our social and economic life, but also the health and well-being of millions of people in our region.  This is the reason why we are concerned and this is why we want the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution to work with the participation of all ASEAN Member Countries.

13. On the economic front, we hope that the realization of the ASEAN Economic Community would bring more opportunities for our people.  Realizing that in the course of improving our economic competitiveness, some parts of the population might be negatively affected, ASEAN is addressing the social impact of regional integration and globalization.  ASEAN is also working towards narrowing the development gaps not only among ASEAN Members Countries, but also at the national levels.  One set of measures is contained in the ASEAN Action Plan on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication. 

CONCLUSION

14. At this Workshop, we hope to understand better the concept of human security and identify our points of convergence so that we are at least conscious of our common goals even if collaboration is not always possible.   

15. We hope to learn from the experiences of other parts of the world.  For this, we thank UNESCO for bringing in its distinguished experts and resource persons representing various regions, namely Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Arab States, Europe, Central Asia, and our neighbor Northeast Asia.  I would like to acknowledge their presence and participation at this workshop:

• Mr Francisco Rojas Aravena, Secretary-General, Facultad Latino Americana De Ciencias Sociales, Costa Rica (Latin America and the Caribbean);
• Mr Jakkie Cilliers, ##Executive Director, Institute for Security Studies, South Africa (Africa);
• Mr Bechir Chourou, University of Carthage, Tunisia (Arab States);
• Ms Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, Director, Center for Peace and Human Security, Paris, France (Europe);
• Ms Anara Tabyshalieva, Director, Kyrgyz Peace Research Center, Kyrgyz Republic (Central Asia); and
• Mr Guan Xin Ping, Dean, Department of Social Work & Social Policy, Nankai University, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China (North-East Asia).

16. From the ASEAN region, presentations will be made by Thailand’s former Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan who also served as a member of the international Commission on Human Security and Dr. Amitav Acharya, Deputy Director of the Institute of Defence and Security Studies in Singapore.  We look forward to their presentations and the ensuing discussions with all our distinguished participants.  Better still, we look forward to any policy-oriented and forward-looking but realistic recommendations which our officials could subsequently consider.

17. Once again, I warmly welcome you all.  Thank you.