ASEAN-UN Secretariat-to-Secretariat Meeting

[Press Release]

Jakarta, Indonesia - On 30 March 2016, a senior-level United Nations Delegation led by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Mr. Miroslav Jenča, held an official full-fledged ASEAN-UN Secretariat-to-Secretariat Meeting with the ASEAN Secretariat leadership, headed by the Secretary-General of ASEAN, H.E. Le Luong Minh, at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta. Other senior UN officials participating in the meeting included: Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ms. Kyung-Wha Kang; Assistant Secretary General, Regional UNDG Asia-Pacific Chair and UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Mr. Haoliang Xu; Assistant Secretary-General for Intergovernmental Support and Strategic Partnerships of UNWOMEN, Ms. Lakshmi Puri; and Deputy Executive Secretary of the UNESCAP, Mr. Kaveh Zahedi.

The Meeting was held following the 7th ASEAN-UN Summit in November 2015, in which the ASEAN Leaders and the United Nations Secretary-General endorsed the recommendation for regular meetings between ASEAN and the United Nations to be held in the ASEAN region.

The Meeting focused on future cooperation between the two organisations in areas such as political-security, economic, socio-cultural and Secretariat-to-Secretariat cooperation. The interaction strengthened technical-level linkages in specific areas of common interest of ASEAN and the United Nations, especially for the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and ASEAN Community Vision 2025. In addition to the United Nations Secretary-General’s recent Plan of Action on Preventing Violent Extremism and the Paris Climate Change Summit, the discussion also included the contribution of the ASEAN Secretariat to the preparations on the forthcoming World Humanitarian Summit and the Summit on Addressing Large Movement of Refugees and Migrants, that is planned to take place at United Nations Headquarters in September.