MANILA, Philippines — A young Filipino leading the way in health, democracy and youth civic engagement, Samuel Capuno Madriaga, 24, has been selected to serve on the Youth Sounding Board for the European Union in ASEAN (YSBEA) for the period of 2024-2025.
Alongside other youth from ASEAN Member States plus a representative from Timor-Leste, he becomes one of the first-ever cohorts of the YSBEA.
“The selection of YSBEA members is an acknowledgement of their outstanding leadership qualities and impressive achievements. YSBEA will provide a consultative space and platform for the youth to strengthen the European Union’s strategic partnership with ASEAN. YSBEA participation will make the actions of the European Union more relevant and effective for young people,” Ambassador of the European Union to Asean Sujiro Seam said.
“Young people make up a third of the population of the ASEAN region. Young people are change-makers and essential partners in ensuring the success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change.
"Youth have an important role to play in deciding the future of this region: to build a better future that is greener, more inclusive and digital. YSBEA members participation reflects their testament and commitment to make a difference,’’ the ambassador continued.
During a courtesy call with the YSBEA members, Deputy Secretary-General (DSG) of ASEAN for Community and Corporate Affairs Nararya Soeprapto highlighted the pivotal role of the youth in contributing to the achievement of key development goals within the region, noting that the region's youth population accounted for around 34% of the overall population in 2020 and is projected to peak in 2038.
He emphasised that ASEAN recognizes the crucial role of youth as key drivers of growth, as reflected in the ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on the Development of the ASEAN Community’s Post-2025 Vision. This statement, adopted by leaders at the 42nd ASEAN Summit in May 2023, underscores the importance of empowering youth to actively participate in shaping the future of the region.
Samuel’s participation in the YSBEA highlights the importance of youth leadership in addressing one of the most crucial development issues: public health.
A key challenge in health communication is to improve health literacy or the ability to access, to understand, to appraise and to apply health information in the aspects of health care, disease prevention and health promotion.
Samuel, as a licensed occupational therapist and public health champion, believes that today’s communication technology and youth involvement are the key solution to the challenge.
“I am so excited to become a member of YSBEA, to further leverage my experiences in civic engagement, to provide significant inputs in public health sector in ASEAN region, bridging leadership to public health advocacy and how we can navigate power and form strong government-civil society partnership especially those led by young people and how we initiate and sustain community-based advocacy campaign, research and policy for youth empowerment in public health,” Samuel said.
The Youth Sounding Board is expected to influence EU external actions and international partnerships, focusing on political priorities such as climate change and human development. Through the end of 2025, these selected cohorts will engage in a series of online and offline consultations with the Delegation of the European Union to ASEAN on youth-related policies.
Globally, YSBEA is among 30 Youth Sounding Board groups established by other EU Delegations worldwide that are part of the Youth Action Plan (YAP) for EU external action.
The YAP serves as the EU’s guiding framework to promote meaningful youth participation and empowerment globally for sustainable development, equality and peace. Focussing on three core areas of action: Engage, Connect and Empower, the YAP is a timely endeavour to engage young people in EU external actions.
The profile of YSBEA members 2024-2025 is available here: https://euinasean.eu/ysbea-member-profiles.
For more information on the EU Youth Sounding Board initiative, visit https://international-partnerships.ec.europa.eu/policies/youth/youth-sounding-board_en
For more information on the Youth Action Plan, visit https://international-partnerships.ec.europa.eu/policies/youth/youth-action-plan_en
Editor’s Note: This press release is sponsored by the European Union in ASEAN. It is published by the Advertising Content Team that is independent from our Editorial Newsroom.
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