Ho Chi Minh, VN: Last month, the ASEAN-Australia Strategic Youth Partnership (AASYP) launched the ASEAN-Australia Review 2020 which features the youth’s voices in the region covering three main themes such as Political Security Cooperation, Economic Cooperation and Socio-Cultural Cooperation. For the first time, on 20 June 2021, AASYP’s Publications team, along with Australia-ASEAN Council, hosted a Facebook webinar to share about the ASEAN-Australia Review 2020 and its behind-the-scenes stories.
The event was hosted online with the participation of distinguished guests from key partner organizations, including Australia-ASEAN Council, outstanding writers of the Review 2020, and AASYP members from across ASEAN countries and Australia.
Remarkably, “our publication was downloaded 425 times and shared from many institutions from Australia and ASEAN region in the third week after its launch” Ankush Wagle, Co-Editor-in-Chief shared.
As a response to the increasing public interest in our article, AASYP decided to host a webinar and invite contributors who cooperated with us to share their memorable stories and hard work behind the Review 2020. During the webinar, insightful writing experiences were shared by authors such as why they chose the topic and which were the most challenges and difficulties when writing the article. The event attracted more than 4,100 sessions to join and share with us.
“Our Review is contributed by 20 outstanding contributors which are representative for 8 countries in ASEAN and Australia as well”, said Ankush Wagle.
When AASYP called for abstracts in October 2020, the organization received more than 150 submissions from all across the region. “There was a very very hard job to select only 16 articles and bring them into AASYP 2020 Review ”, he commented.
The publication covered important issues to the ASEAN-Australia relation including climate change, maritime security, smart city and counterterrorism counselling, etc. ,
“I think what makes the Review stand out is its optimism in the face of the serious political, economic, and social challenges ASEAN and Australia collectively face”, Dominic Harvey-Taylor, Co-Editor-In-Chief of ASEAN-Australia Review 2020 noted. Moreover, he revealed that the publication had a strategic role in implementing AASYP’s broader goal of building young people’s expertise and engagement in the region.
Among others participating in AASYP webinar is representative from Australia-ASEAN Council (AAC), Professor Nicholas Farrely, Board Member of AAC. “With more than 100 initial suggested contributions is also a superb indication of the energy, the vitality, the exuberance that this particular partnership between Australian and ASEAN youth is creating”, he remarked.
Nicholas also emphasized the most important achievements of the Review 2020 were connecting young people in the ASEAN region and Australia to share their ideas and perspectives, resulting in more understanding between the two regions and also enhancing the friendship of ASEAN and Australian youth community as well.
The webinar event was hosted on our Facebook page, accessible via this link.
The ASEAN-Australia Review 2020 is available for online reading. Download a copy here.
AASYP is committed to being a leader in connecting young people across ASEAN and Australia. The organisation has engaged with important stakeholders in the region and is gaining momentum in attracting thought leadership on critical shared challenges including modern slavery. AASYP is eager to facilitate similar programs in the future and invites interested organisations to get in touch at team@aasyp.org.
About AASYP: AASYP empowers young people aged 18-29 years old from across ASEAN and Australia to engage with each other and the most pressing issues of today. We build young people’s expertise and engagement with ASEAN-Australia affairs, and provide tangible opportunities for young people to engage in promoting peace and prosperity across the relationship.
