The AMI funded the 2nd A2ELP in Kuala Lumpur from 28 – 31 May 2012 in conjunction with ISIS Malaysia's 26th Asia-Pacific Roundtable. Twenty five emerging young leaders from Australia, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam took part in the five day leadership program.
The participants came from a range of backgrounds including government, think-tanks, NGOs, politics and business to develop their capacity as regional leaders and discuss topical international and regional issues. Meet the 2011 A2ELP participants and 2012 A2ELP participants and see what some of them think.
We would like to extend our thanks to ISIS Malaysia, St James Ethics Centre and Asialink for organising this event, as well as the Australia-Thailand Institute (ATI) and the Australia-Indonesia Institute (AII) for their funding and support.
The A2ELP is conducted under 'Chatham House Rules' and uses the Asia Pacific Roundtable as a reference point for discussions and group presentations.
This year four mentors from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia who participated in the 2011 A2ELP were invited to be team leaders and give presentations on themes covering: Conflict Management and Resolution in Asia: The role of civil society; Managing illicit transnational migration in Asia; Regional security order ASEAN-Australia perspectives and Middle powers and regional governance: A case study from Asia.
A highlight of the program continues to be the 'A2ELP Breakfast with the Elders'. 'Elders' invited to participate in the breakfast session over the two days of the APR have included:
- Dato' Mahani Zainal Abidin, Chief Executive, ISIS Malaysia
- Dr Rizal Sukma, Executive Director, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Indonesia
- Dr Allan Gyngell, Director-General, Office of National Assessments, Australia
- Emeritus Professor Carolina Hernandez, Institute of Strategic & Development Studies, The Philippines
- HRH Prince NorodomSirivudh, The Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace
- Associate Professor Tan See Seng, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore
- AMI Board member Rechelle Hawkes, and former board member Professor Tony Milner, Australia
- Professor Desmond Ball, Co-Chair AusCSCAP, Australian National University, Australia
- Mr Jusuf Wanandi, Vice Chair, Board of Trustees, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Indonesia.
The program provides A2ELP participants with the opportunity to build extensive professional networks in South East Asia and engage with regional leaderson emerging challenges.
See what some of the 2012 A2ELP participants say about the program
"The Asia Pacific Roundtable helped me understand political-security issues better and has given me new found appreciation for its relation to my work. The discussions at A2ELP challenged my way of thinking and has inspired me to think 'outside the box'"
"Fantastic program! Exhausting but worth it. I learnt a lot, met amazing people with deep knowledge and insight of the region, gained an appreciation for a number of things, got the opportunity to interact with change-makers and real players (which is awesome) and am now part of a network that will forever be of use and relevance. Thank you so much for letting me be a part of this"
"This is the most interesting workshop I've taken part in. Thank you very much. Excellent in both content (knowledge) and methodology"
"It was a wonderful program and allowed me to connect with talented people from around the region and discuss issues facing all our countries. Thank you for the opportunity"
2011 ASEAN-Australia Emerging Leaders Program (A2ELP)
The AMI funded the A2ELP in Kuala Lumpur from 29 May to 2 June, specifically timed to coincide with ISIS Malaysia's Asia-Pacific Roundtable. Tweny-one young leaders from Australia, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam took part in the five day leadership program.
The participants came from a range of backgrounds including government, media and academia developing their capacity as regional leaders and discussing topical international and regional issues.
We would like to extend our thanks to ISIS Malaysia, St James Ethics Centre and Asialink for organising this inaugural event, as well as the Australia-Thailand Institute (ATI) and the Australia-Indonesia Institute (AII) for their funding and support.
The A2ELP presented and invaluable networking opportunity for participants and an A2ELP facebook page has been created as a result.
This program was a key activity under the AMI's New Generation Leaders and Professionals Program (Goal 1) and also a collaborative project between DFAT's three South-East Asian institutes.
Group photo of participants at the ASEAN-Australia Emerging Leaders Program (A2ELP), May- June 2012 (Photo courtesy of St James Ethics Centre)