ASEAN Declaration on the Issue of Urban Poverty

Singapore, Singapore, 6 March 2017

Main Submitter: Indonesia

Co Submitters: Philippines, Myanmar
Signatories: United States of America, Singapore, China, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand,
Japan, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia

We, the Foreign Ministers of the Member Countries of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations,

Recognising that Urban Poverty is a serious issue for many ASEAN countries;

Conscious that Urban Poverty directly restricts the growth of ASEAN countries as a whole;

Acknowledging the fact that many of the peoples affected by urban poverty are often targeted by
perpetrators of organized crime such as child labour, human and drug trafficking;

Understanding the various problems and contentions countries face when dealing with the issue
of Urban Poverty;

Aiming to improve conditions on the issue of Urban Poverty to promote conditions essential of
greater economic cooperation and growth;

Reaffirming Article 73 of the UN Charter, which stated that Member States have the duty to
ensure educational advancement;

Reaffirming the Terms of Reference of the ASEAN Development Fund;

Recognizing that education is the key to successful development in long-term sustainable

employment as it enables peoples to overcome generational poverty;

Emphasizing Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that
everyone has the right of education and this right must be upheld;

Recalling General Assembly resolution 66/137 of 2012 which states that everyone has the right
to education since it enables all individuals to effectively participate in the economy and society;

Fully aware of the financial limitations of member states from flustrated financial in each
countries.

Hereby,

Article I: Definitions

1. Acknowledges that national differences in the characteristics that distinguishes urban and
rural areas and thus the definition of the urban and rural population is not amenable to a single
definition;
2. Urges ASEAN member states to establish their own set of definition in accordance to
guidelines such as but not limited to,
a. People in/around cities who are deprived of basic necessities such as but not
limited to: food, clean water, healthcare, education should be classified as a urban
poor,

Article II: Education

3. Encourages all member states to push for standard education for all children until the age of
12 via means such as but not limited to,
a. Providing free or subsidised education up till the primary level in government
and/or state schools,
b. Imposing compulsory education up till the primary level;

4. Reaffirms the need to properly manage the registry of all schools in order to be able to,
c. Start up more schools in areas which require so where necessary,
d. Hire competent teachers with basic training in teaching;

5. Encourages member states to improve transportation networks so that rural populations can
reach schools easily and hence improve access to education and information;

Article III: Increasing Work Opportunities

6. Recommends the development of community services, catering, commercial and trade

circulation and tourism through measures such as but not limited to:
a. Adhering to the plan laid out in the ASEAN strategic development plan
2016-2025,

7. Further requests incentives provided to companies who employ persons consmited to,
i. Set prerequisite criterias from job application,
ii. Disallow employers from denying job applications that meet the
criteria prior to an interview on the basis of a non-job related
reasons,
b. Standardize labour wage regardless of age, gender, ethnic or nationality
through ways such as but not limited to,
i. Encourage countries to have background checks on companies to
ensure that their wages do not fluctuate for different employees
with the job;
ii. Introduce hefty fines for companies who do not standardize labour
wages,
c. Safeguard the rights of employees and ensure minimum labour benefits for
all employees by adhering to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work
 d. Standardise documentation and visa requirements for labour mobility for
all member states through ways such as but not limited to,
i. Reducing background checks on foreign labour,
ii. Setting a universal standard for approval of visa and work permit,
e. Pushes for member states to loose visa regulations based on a case by
case basis

Article IV: Protection of the Urban Poor

10. Encourage governments to impose lifelong imprisonment with parole, with the option of
removing parole depending on the severity of the crime, akin to the existing laws that exist
within each respective country against offenders who violate womens rights, when perpetrators
commit acts such as, but not limited to:

a. Sexual violence against women,

b. Trafficking of women and girls,

c. Any crime that disproportionately traumatizes females as compared to males;

11. Requests that children be looked at as part of the poverty level and economic status of a
country;

12. Calls upon member states to rectify the advanced protocols to the Conventions of the Rights
of the Child;

13. Supports the idea of food and money stipends, or similar programs, to be initiated in most
countries, funded through the countrys own GDP or through donations by NGOs;

14. Encourages that member states and ASEAN train expertise to inspect corporations factories
or facilities in search of violations of child labour;

15. Requests that member states impose tighter border security to prevent trafficking of people
to do unpaid services;

Article V: Funding and Assistance

rges all member states to contribute actively to the ASEAN Development Bank;
18. U

19. Encourages more developed ASEAN countries to provide resources to less developed
ASEAN countries by ways such as but not limited to:
 a. Providing expertise on developing service sectors,
b. Providing training courses for skilled jobs such as but not limited to:
Engineering,
Architecture,
Urban planning,
Medicine,
Dentistry,
Accountancy;

20. Encourages ASEAN countries who have a more developed maritime industry to provide
expertise on developing this industry.