Note to Correspondents - Joint Press Release following ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting with the Secretary-General and the President of the 69th Session of the UN General Assembly

The ASEAN Foreign Ministers, United Nations Secretary-General His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon and the President of the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, His Excellency Mr. Sam Kahamba Kutesa, today welcomed the progress made in cementing the partnership between ASEAN and the UN. The ASEAN-UN Ministerial Meeting (AUMM) held at United Nations Headquarters is the third AUMM since the adoption of the Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Partnership between the ASEAN and the UN at the 4th ASEAN-UN Summit in Bali in November 2011. The ASEAN Foreign Ministers and the Secretary-General reviewed and welcomed progress in the implementation of the Joint Declaration, based on a Joint Report and recommendations submitted by the Secretariats of the ASEAN and the UN. They also considered the suggestions of the ASEAN-UN Preparatory Senior Officials’ Meeting held on 24 September 2014 on promoting the effectiveness of ASEAN-UN cooperation by identifying the gaps in implementation of the Joint Declaration, formulating strategic, focused and coordinated programmes and working together not only on the current issues but also on a new generation of issues such as integrated regional connectivity, countering radicalism and extremism, transnational crime, cyber crime and spread of communicable diseases such as the Ebola virus. The Meeting was chaired by His Excellency U Wunna Maung Lwin, Union Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Other ASEAN Foreign Ministers and their representatives, as well as the Secretary-General of ASEAN, His Excellency Le Luong Minh, were also in attendance. The United Nations expressed support for ASEAN’s efforts towards the realization of the ASEAN Community by 2015 and ASEAN’s central role in evolving regional architecture.  An agreement was reached to strengthen joint activities more strategically through ensuring better coordination, stable and sustainable funding, and where appropriate, creating mechanisms to monitor the activities and generate greater impact for the two Organizations and the peoples of ASEAN. In this connection, ASEAN Foreign Ministers welcomed the establishment of a UN liaison presence in Jakarta. Views were exchanged on regional and international issues, that are of common concern and interest to ASEAN and the UN, including among others, achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); setting the development agenda beyond 2015; encouraging information sharing and capacity building in maritime security and safety cooperation; eradicating poverty and reducing inequalities; promotion of tolerance and moderation; conflict prevention, peacekeeping, and peace-building; countering terrorism and addressing  transnational issues; promotion and protection of human rights; climate change; disaster management; promoting green technology and sustainable development. They encouraged the timely finalization of the ASEAN-UN Work Plan for 2015, which will chart out priorities for the ASEAN-UN Partnership in all the pillars of the Comprehensive Partnership and in maintaining and promoting regional and international peace, security and prosperity. The UN Secretary-General and the ASEAN Foreign Ministers also looked forward to the upcoming 6th ASEAN-UN Summit, which is scheduled to be held on 12 November 2014 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.