Formerly known as the ASEAN Youth Citizen Journalism, the ASEAN Youth Social Journalism is an initiative by the ASEAN Foundation and the ASEAN-USAID PROSPECT, a joint project of the U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID) and U.S. State Department, that aims to engage youth as “social journalists,” who will provide compelling media products to express their critical thinking and allow them to raise their voices on issues affecting their local communities that also have regional implications.
In 2019 the programme touches upon a topic that “explores the importance of responsive and transparent governance in their day-to-day lives, promoting the ideals of fairness, equity, and transparency in their communities and at the regional level.” The selection of such a theme is to engage talented ASEAN youth to share and promote fact-based and compelling messages that showcase the importance of reliable and transparent governance in ASEAN and its Member States through media platforms. Following the selection of 20 successful youths, a regional workshop will be conduction on 16 – 19 September 2019 in Brunei Darussalam with the Scoop, a multimedia platform for news, commentary, culture and life, as a host.
The contest is held for the second time in 2021 with the theme of “#ASEANYouth and COVID-19 ─ Response, Recovery, and Resilience”. The 2nd AYSJ 2021 is endorsed by the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Youth (SOMY) and supported by the ASEAN Foundation, ASEAN Secretariat, Ireland Embassy, and the ASEAN-USAID PROSPECT, a joint project of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and U.S. State Department.
The importance of active participation and integration of the ASEAN youth has been an ASEAN priority since the Declaration of Principles to Strengthen ASEAN Collaboration on Youth presented in Bangkok on 24 June 1983. Youth play a vital role in community building and represent the values envisaged by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN.
In particular, ASEAN youth leadership is at the forefront of efforts to combat the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic as young people have a pivotal role to play in limiting the epidemic and alleviating its effects on public health, community and the economy as a whole. They have been responding to the pandemic in a multitude of ways – by serving as health workers and community volunteers, leading public health promotion initiatives, as well as combating the pandemic through artistic, scientific, entrepreneurial, and technological innovations although they are specifically vulnerable to the disruptions caused by the pandemic.
