President Rodrigo Roa Duterte today led the heads of the ASEAN Member-States in signing the ASEAN Leaders Declaration on the Role of the Civil Service as Catalyst in Achieving ASEAN Community Vision 2025.
“The declaration highlights the important role of the civil service as drivers of national and regional development towards the achievement of ASEAN goals and aspirations,” Civil Service Commission (CSC) Chairperson Alicia de la Rosa-Bala said.
The Philippines initiated the development of the ASEAN Leaders Declaration on the Role of the Civil Service as Catalyst in Achieving ASEAN Community Vision 2025.
In recognizing the role of the civil service, ASEAN leaders have tasked the ASEAN Civil Service Institutions comprising the ASEAN Cooperation on Civil Service Matters (ACCSM) to lead efforts in promoting cooperation in the development and implementation of capacity-building programs and sharing of best practices. These include progressive people management, organizational performance, skills building, environment promotion, health management and disaster management.
Raising the professional standards and capability of civil servants in the region and developing mechanisms that will ensure the civil service of ASEAN would embrace good governance principles are likewise included in the ASEAN Leaders Declaration.
Also, the Declaration tasked the ACCSM in upholding and protecting the welfare of civil servants in the region including those performing critical roles during disasters and other hazardous situations; and strengthening alliance within ASEAN and its dialogue partners.
In signing this Declaration, the Philippines broke new ground in ensuring cooperation and synergy among the ASEAN Member-States across the political security, economic and socio-cultural, and the various sectors of the ASEAN community.
“The ASEAN Leaders Declaration on the Role of the Civil Service as a Catalyst for Achieving ASEAN Community Vision 2025 is the only document that has been signed by the leaders in this 30th ASEAN Summit,” CSC Chairperson Bala said adding that the heads of ASEAN Civil Service will meet in November this year to draw out concrete action plan to implement the declaration.