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(Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument) Facility which provided 4

million euros from 2011–2014 and supported policy dialogue, study visits, and
exchanges in areas such as ICT, S&T, and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). A

further support for human rights in ASEAN comes in the form of READI-HRF.
This facility was a two-year EU initiative from August 2015–August 2017 to

support the policy development process with particular respect to human

rights, with major beneficiaries (human rights bodies) being the ASEAN Inter-
governmental Commission on Human rights (AIHCR), the ASEAN

Commission on the Promotion and the Protection of the Rights of Women and

Children (ACWC), the ASEAN Committee on Women (ACW), and the
ASEAN Committee on Migrant Workers (ACMW). Another initiative by the

EU is EU-SHARE (EU Support of Higher Education in ASEAN Region)
which aims to strengthen ASEAN higher education, thus contributing to the

ASCC. The current duration of the project is 4 years (January 2015–January
2019) and a sum of about 10 million euros has been committed to the initiative.

However, it also remains crucial that for the benefits to reach the citizens, the

integration initiatives need to be sustained. Hence, there are discussions to
support projects like these on a more long-term basis. In order to contribute to

reducing regional disparities, CLMV countries receive special attention from
the EU with extra allocations of resources.

There has been significant cooperation in higher education, where scholarships
under schemes such as Erasmus+ are provided to both scholars and students to

carry out studies and research in the EU member states. Specific foundations
such as Alexander Von Humboldt promote educational cooperation between

Germany and rest of the world, including ASEAN nations.

As all member nations of EU are also members of the UN, ASEAN-UN

th
relations deserve a mention. During the 14 ASEAN Summit, a commitment
to the attainment of UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was made.
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