08 August 2018
Maybank Foundation and ASEAN Foundation Launch Social Entrepreneurship Programme for Youth to Fight Poverty in ASEAN
Partnership to support entrepreneurial-minded youths through eMpowering Youths Across ASEAN programme
INDONESIA, 8 August 2018 – Maybank Foundation and the ASEAN Foundation today announced the launch of the eMpowering Youths Across ASEAN programme. Striving to inspire and catalyse ASEAN youth volunteerism, it targets talented ASEAN youths to be change-makers by equipping them with the necessary expertise and mindset as well as providing them with micro grants totaling USD200,000 to commence community initiatives that can alleviate poverty and empower ASEAN communities.
A signing ceremony for this partnership was held at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta today, which was witnessed by the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dato’ Paduka Lim Jock Hoi, the Chairman of Maybank and Maybank Foundation, Datuk Mohaiyani Shamsudin, and the Chairman of the ASEAN Foundation’s Board of Trustees Ambassador Elizabeth P. Buensuceso. Signing on behalf of Maybank was its Group Chief Human Capital Officer, Nora Abdul Manaf while the ASEAN Foundation was represented by its Executive Director, Elaine Tan.
The eMpowering Youths Across ASEAN aims to gather 100 university students and working youths aged between 19 to 35 years, across the ASEAN region to develop and implement community projects that deliver tangible long-term impact, socially and economically. The programme will run from August 2018 to August 2019, kicking off with regional expert-led orientation and capacity building workshops organised for these 100 youths. Following the workshops, all youths will be deployed in selected community areas starting in Cambodia, Indonesia, and Malaysia to embark on community projects with focus on four specific areas, namely community empowerment, arts and culture, environmental diversity, and education.
“Our partnership with the ASEAN Foundation is a significant occasion for the Maybank Group as we continue to work with aspiring youths to create positive impact in the communities we serve. With our wide footprint in all 10 ASEAN countries and our mission to Humanise Financial Services, we are confident that the eMpowering Youths Across ASEAN programme will transform the lives of the less fortunate communities in the Southeast Asia region.” said Datuk Mohaiyani Shamsudin.
“The ASEAN Foundation is proud to partner with Maybank Foundation, having the same aspiration and purpose, which is to catalyse a generation of change-makers and bring greater prosper to the community of ASEAN. This programme, especially catered to the youth of ASEAN, will help us in achieving our objectives of enhancing interaction among different ASEAN stakeholders, alleviating poverty, and building a strong community.” said Ambassador Elizabeth P. Buensuceso, who is also the Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Philippines to ASEAN.
The eMpowering Youths Across ASEAN is a continuation from the Singapore-led pilot programme of Maybank Foundation and Maybank Singapore in 2016, which involved more than 200 university students from National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, and Singapore Management University. This programme saw the completion of seven community projects impacting some 1,500 people in the region. Building on the momentum from this success, the programme has now been scaled up to the regional level to reach out to more youths in the 10 ASEAN member states to make a bigger impact on its communities. Among others, this initiative will play a significant role in helping to achieve the objectives as laid out in the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint 2025 as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Maybank Foundation’s partnership with the ASEAN Foundation is part of its commitment to transform the eMpowering Youths Across ASEAN programme into an impactful regional-level initiative. The programme has also been designed to showcase how meaningful engagement and collaboration among different stakeholders can bring sustainable development and tangible impact to the ASEAN community.
