JAKARTA – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations announced Wednesday it has revamped the structure of its secretariat as part of its bid to form an EU-style community by 2015.
The restructuring will see the Jakarta-based secretariat divided into four separate departments covering economic, political and security, community and corporate, and social-cultural affairs, a media statement said.
The move, overseen by Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan, is aimed at creating “the nerve-centre of a strong and confident ASEAN Community” by 2015, it said.
ASEAN member states last year ratified a new charter for the grouping transforming it into a legal entity, setting the state for the creation of a single free trade area for the region’s 500 million people.
The charter is aimed at giving ASEAN, often dismissed as a talking-shop, greater clout in international negotiations, but critics argue that some member states will continue to get away with gross human rights abuses.
ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.–Agence France-Presse
March –
IT’S WOMEN’S MONTH!
“Respect and support women
every day of the year/s!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the recommendations of the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry
against serious violations of protocols of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association.
Accept the National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands
#Report Corruption #SearchPosts #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
Women’s Role in History Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 1: Environmental Week;
Women’s Week
Week 3: Philippine Industry and “
Made-in-the-Philippines Products Week
Last Week: Protection and Gender-Fair Treatment
of the Girl Child Week
Daily Observances:
March 8: Women’s Rights and
International Peace Day;
National Women’s Day
March 4: Employee Appreciation Day
March 15: World Consumer Rights Day
March 18: Global Recycling Day
March 21: International Day for the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination
March 23: International Day for the Right to the Truth
Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations
and for the Dignity of Victims
March 25: International Day of Remembrance of the
Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
March 27: Earth Hour
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