Making up one third of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s population, young people are an important resource to contribute to the socio-economic development and growth of the ASEAN Community, especially with their initiatives to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

Delegates attend the 2nd ASEAN Young Diplomats Exchange Program - 2021 in Vietnam. Photo: Hien Hanh

That is the message of the second ASEAN Young Diplomats Exchange Program - 2021 held on December 9 and 10 with the theme “ASEAN Youth at the Forefront of Covid-19 Response”.

Addressing the program, Nguyen Ngoc Luong, secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth Union and deputy chairman of the National Committee on Youth, said that in Vietnam, the two organizations are actively working on youth development, devising policies to support young people in learning, working, starting a business, taking care of and protecting their health, entertainment, volunteering and enhancing youth's responsibility in their career and national defense.

“The second ASEAN Young Diplomats Exchange Program will involve participants in numerous topics, including results of ASEAN youth cooperation in 2021 and priorities for ASEAN and ASEAN+ youth cooperation in the coming time, ASEAN's efforts in the Covid-19 prevention, joint efforts of ASEAN countries on labor issues and social security for disadvantaged groups,” Luong said.

Besides, the program will discuss the initiative of the Network of Companion Doctors in the Covid-19 prevention in Vietnam and volunteer activities in the context of the pandemic in the Asia-Pacific region.

Luong hopes that after the program, many new solutions and initiatives will be widely deployed by ASEAN youth to counsel the Governments of ASEAN countries on measures to repel the Covid-19 pandemic, jointly creating and building a healthy and prosperous ASEAN Community.