Three Years of Malaysia’s Successful Chairmanship of ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (AMMSWD)

KUALA LUMPUR:The 12th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (AMMSWD) and its related meetings concluded today after being held virtually from August 26–29, 2025, in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. The Malaysian delegation was led by Deputy Minister of Women, Family, and Community Development, YB Datuk Seri Dr. Noraini Ahmad.

Malaysia has chaired AMMSWD for the past three years since 2022. Despite the critical post-pandemic period, Malaysia successfully steered the body, which focuses on regional welfare, social protection, and community development, particularly for women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.

Among Malaysia’s key achievements was leading the implementation of the SOMSWD (Senior Officials Meeting on Social Welfare and Development) Work Plan 2021–2025 and drafting the upcoming SOMSWD Work Plan 2026–2030, set to be adopted by the end of this year. For the first time, official Terms of Reference for both AMMSWD and SOMSWD were established, providing a structured governance framework for more systematic operations.

Under the 2025 ASEAN theme “Inclusion and Sustainability,” Malaysia also successfully hosted the ASEAN + ROK Conference on Care and Support for Older Persons from June 30 to July 2, 2025, in Kuala Lumpur. The event gathered over 100 participants from ASEAN member states and the Republic of Korea to exchange best practices on aging policies, elder care services, and the development of the silver economy. The forum was guided by the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Ageing: Empowering Older Persons (2015) and the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Work Plan (2023–2027).

This platform allowed member states to address challenges of aging populations, share strategies, and explore sustainable care systems aligned with global demographic trends.

At today’s closing session, Malaysia officially handed over the AMMSWD chairmanship to Myanmar. The ceremony was led by YB Dato’ Sri Hajah Nancy Shukri, Minister of Women, Family and Community Development and Chair of AMMSWD, who highlighted Malaysia’s accomplishments and expressed gratitude to ASEAN member states, the ASEAN Secretariat, and strategic partners for their strong commitment during Malaysia’s tenure. She also conveyed her best wishes to Myanmar as it assumes the chairmanship for the next two years.

Throughout the week, several significant events were held, including the 20th ASEAN Go-NGO Forum on Social Welfare and Development (Aug 26), the 3rd ASEAN Outstanding Social Welfare and Development Awards (AOSWADA) Ceremony (Aug 27), the 21st SOMSWD (Aug 27), the 20th SOMSWD+3 with ASEAN Plus Three partners (Aug 28), the 7th ASEAN Network of Experts on Inclusive Entrepreneurship (NIEA) Meeting (Aug 28), the 12th AMMSWD Ministerial Meeting (Aug 29), and the 8th AMMSWD+3 Ministerial Meeting (Aug 29).

As a committed AMMSWD member, Malaysia reaffirmed its dedication to strengthening social welfare, family, child protection, disability inclusion, and elderly care under the ASEAN framework, while continuing to enhance regional cooperation towards building a more inclusive ASEAN community.