Five years after its creation, a truly ASEAN organisation focused on human development in the ASEAN workplace has gone through its startup phase. The year 2023 was a transition for our organisation into a more mature one for the human development community of the region.
A number of AHDO members have been instrumental to the development of our organisation in the past year. We would like to recognise Nadiah Tan Abdullah, our AHDO Regional Chair for 2023 and 2024 for her strong advocacy and institutional promotion, as well as Yulius Bulo and Martanova Hartoyo for strengthening our ASEC Liaison relationships and for leading theprocess to get our organisation fully accredited as an ASEAN Entity.
As we head into 2024, we take a look back at some of the milestone achievements over the past year:
AHDO made significant progress with the official registration of AHDO Malaysia and AHDO Singapore in 2023. We are also in the process of registering AHDO Philippines and having AHDO Vietnam as a Civil Society Organisation to conform to ASEAN requirements.
Beyond these countries, we have also included Timor-Leste HDO and Myanmar HDO which are both currently in the process of registration.
This brings the number of countries where we AHDO is legally registered or in process of registration to seven: Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Myanmar, and Timor-Leste.
Our strong partnership with HRM Asia has allowed AHDO to significantly boost our visibility with the first Human Development Track for ASEAN at the 2023 regional conference in Singapore. We were also co-organisers for the CHRO conferences in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.
We launched a white paper in partnership with the ASEAN-based mental health technology company, Intellect on Mental Health and Wellbeing in the ASEAN Workplace, both public and private sector.
Finally, founder of AHDO, Bob Aubrey will be publishing The Ethics of ASEAN by Universiti of Malaya Press. Written in collaboration with AUN researchers, it is the first comprehensive study of ASEAN ethics. It features 44 experts on 8 ethics issues challenging the region, with resources drawn from our ECAAR seminars.
We have trained nearly 100 professionals, including most of AHDO Board members, in the AHDO Certification Programme for Human Development Professionals over a two-year period.
To date, AHDO runs the only HD certification for professionals worldwide. We have also identified 6 short certification courses to boost accessibility for Human Development education. 3 of these short courses have already been designed under the leadership of Isa Jamaluddin and with the supervision of Vice Director for Certifications, ReneeTan and AHDO founder, Bob Aubrey.
Going even further, AHDO member Welyne Jehome has registered ASEAN’s first International Masters in Human Development at the University of Malaya. Supported by the ASEAN University Network as a regional course and held online, this programme is designed to be accessible to learners across the region.
We are currently looking to go even further in 2024, with discussions ongoing with Mahidol University in Thailand for a Bachelor’sDegree in Human Development.
AHDO began with an idea, and in 5 short years has grown into a respected professional ASEAN professional community. We have a strong knowledge base and are recognised as thought leaders. We represent a unique ASEAN human development paradigm where people are a purpose in the world of work.
Looking ahead, AHDO will become a more institutional partner with governments, companies, international organisations and higher education. We will begin to lead important human development projects within ASEAN. We will train today’s human development professionals in diverse sectors and educate the next generation of human development leaders.
