Over 100 people from various ASEAN countries witnessed the launch of the ASEAN SDG SSE Roadmap gathered online this morning (27 Jan 2026).
These SDG SSE actors were from Indonesia, Philipinese, Thailand and Malaysia They were also others from other ASEAN countries namely Brunei, Cambodia, Singapore, Timor Leste and Vietnam. This was really significant historical ASEAN level event.
Ms Zoel Ng (Director of MY SDG Academy) who was the convenor of the event welcomed all. She acknowledged the presence of a strong ASEAN region representation. She highlighted the program for the morning including setting the objectives of the launch.
A number of ASEC leaders spoke. These included: –
Prof Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria set the context of SDGs and SSE through the UN Resolutions as well as via the Doha Declaration on Social Development. He affirmed that majority of the UN member states including all the members of ASEAN had formally accepted SSE as a vehicle for acceleration of the SDGs at the grassroots. (The slides enclosed)
Dr Ben Quinoues the ASEC founder-chair provided a clear explanation of SSE as community business which is not for profit maximization but for the benefit of the people and the environment. This is an alterative way of doing business which is sustainable, people and environment friendly.
Dr Khairil Ahmad the Director for the mySDG Centre for Social Inclusion introduced the roadmap and the targets in terms of the role of community based socio-economic SSE organisations in the acceleration of the SDGs. There are clear goals and targets set and we have a major task to mobilise the movement as CSO-NGOs in ensuring a transformative and empowering access to inclusive development for all.
We all agreed to identify national coordinating partners in every ASEAN country along with grassroots partners so that we can build a grassroots movement of SDG-SSE actors by 2030 in every ASEAN country. We agreed to document our experiences so as to show case across ASEAN our impact upon ensuring no one is left behind. Data collection is key along with story tell.
Ms Zoel Ng introduced the interactive website as a tool to achieving this and encouraged all members to down load their data for evidence-based documentation of the SDG-SSE achievements at the grassroots.
One can access the website at https://asean-sdg-forge.lovable.app
At the launch Dr Eri Trinurini (ASEC Chair), Dr Victor Karunan (SDG Consultant) and two grassroots actors from Indonesia and Philipinese participated on the panel sharing the impact of their community projects.
The launch event is recorded and available for review: https://www.youtube.com/live/onzT-LfWMcE
