Malaysia committed to continuing AYVP

Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican said AYVP made its mark in 2013 with the theme “Environment and Climate Change” and has become an annual event since.

To date, the programme had produced 397 youth volunteer leaders across ASEAN, which is set to embark on more opportunities for potential leaders generation in years to come, he said at the opening of AYVP 2020 today, which was held virtually for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

AYVP is the permanent secretariat based in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) under the auspices of the Youth and Sports Ministry with the support of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

AYVP 2020 had been scheduled for August this year in the Philippines with the University of the Philippines System as the co-host but was postponed because of COVID-19.

This year's AYVP, opened up for the first time to participation from the ASEAN+3 (China, South Korea and Japan), has attracted more than two million youths and received almost 6,000 applications.

Reezal Merican said while this year was challenging following the COVID-19 pandemic that had created severe disruption and threatened the livelihoods of people around the world, ASEAN youths had been increasingly involved in the pandemic response as medical frontliners, implementers of social welfare projects, initiators of groundbreaking enterprises, as well as social innovators.

He said the ASEAN Youth Statement 2020 had called for the building of a strong network of youths through active and responsible participation to enhance effective volunteerism, entrepreneurship and other activities related to essential skills, including digital transformation.

ASEAN youths play an important role in the journey towards recovery and embracing the new normal together, he added.

"This new landscape portrays the opportunities and challenges for organisations to apply virtual volunteering as a strategy during the pandemic and beyond," he said.

This year's AYVP, themed "Redesigning the Education in the New Normal", is a one-week programme that seeks to develop future leaders among ASEAN+3 youths and take the lead in redesigning the volunteerism perspective, especially in creating greater accessibility and improvised management processes.

"It is a great platform in shaping community leadership to create opportunities for ASEAN youths to develop innovative solutions to social, cultural, economic and environmental challenges while forging a sense of regional identity and cross-cultural understanding," he said.