Latest News in ASEAN

01-Jul-2015

Source:  ASEAN Secretariat News


ASEAN People's Awards

The Award

The ASEAN People’s Award is established to honour ASEAN Member States’ citizens and/or organisations who have made outstanding contributions toward the creation of a united, prosperous and caring ASEAN Community.

The Awards appreciate and promote the achievements and inspiring contributions of organisations and/or citizens (individuals) to community building effort, including, among others, in the areas of political, social and cultural development, economic integration, youth and livelihood, education, volunteerism, community development and empowerment.

These contributions may entail achievement in the areas of wide-community and voluntary activities, poverty eradication, rural development, charity work, contribution in the areas of education, research and publication, arts as well as entrepreneurship.

Public or private organisations, economists who have invented small scale financial schemes to assist the poor and underserved people, lecturers or teachers who have performed excellently, lawyers and advocates who have advocated for the marginalised and vulnerable segment of population, photographers or artists who have produced their artworks in promoting peace and national unity and members of mass or business organizations and others, including civil society organisations (CSOs) that may have performed beyond expectation are examples of the wide range of individuals or organisations that may come within the perimeters for the awards. The categories are endless and non-exhaustive.

The ASEAN Peoples’ Awards (APA) will be given to 10 ASEAN Member States’ organisations and/or individuals, each representing one AMS. They will be selected by the respective National Focal Point of each Member State.

Objectives

• To appreciate and promote organisations and/or citizens of ASEAN Member States who have made excellent and inspiring contributions and achievements within the broader context of ASEAN’s community building effort, including, among others, in the areas of political, social and cultural development, economic integration, youth and livelihood, education, volunteerism, community development and empowerment of peoples.
• To celebrate and showcase the inspiring achievements and contributions of outstanding ASEAN organisations and/or individuals and the positive impact they have made on others in the community.
• To support and encourage their efforts by providing a one-off grant for use in their current and/or new initiatives, to further contribute to the ASEAN community building process, which may also include their national social-economic development initiatives.

Selection Criteria
The following criteria will be observed by the respective National Focal Points of ASEAN Member States, responsible for nominating their nominee:

• The recipient shall be a citizen of or organisation registered with the concerned ASEAN Member State.
• The Nominee must show his/her or the organisation’s verifiable achievements in ASEAN community building efforts in areas such as, among others, the attainment of peace, stability, prosperity, solidarity, strong cultural identity, community development, cross-cultural cooperation and understanding, narrowing the development gaps, promotion/protection/fulfillment of human rights, or improved connectivity.
• The Nominee, if selected to be one of the Recipients, must agree to showcase his/her/the organisation’s work and achievement during the Announcement and Prize Giving Ceremony.
• The Award shall not be conferred to an organisation or individual with criminal record or involvement with any misconduct or illegal activities

Submission of Nominees
The citizens of the respective AMS may submit nominations for the Award. The individual or organisation nominated must provide a summary of three to five pages highlighting the achievement he/she/the organisation has made in a broader community building effort.

The summary should include:

• The background of the nominee;
• A description of the nature of his/her/the organisation’s related-community programmes;
• The impacts he/she/the organisation has made onthe community;
• A description of his/her/the organisation’s future community programme; and
• Evidence of his/her/the organisation’s achievements.

The National Focal Point (NFP) may request for additional documentation or evidence. In the event the nominee fails to comply or respond to the request in the given timeframe, the NFP may at its discretion discard the submission/nomination.

Nominations should be sent to the respective National Focal Points as follow:

Announcement of the 10 National Recipients & Exhibition
The announcement and award presentation ceremony will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the sidelines of the 27th ASEAN Summit in November 2015.

To further promote the contributions and achievements of the 10 National Recipients, an exhibition showcasing their work and achievements may be held in conjunction with the award presentation ceremony.

Award

Each National Recipient will be awarded with a trophy and cash grant of US$10,000. The purpose of this one-off financial grant is to encourage them to continue their current activities.