This document sets forth the mission, objectives, membership criteria and basic working procedures for the ASEAN Cultural Heritage Alliance (ACHA).

Rationale and Mission:

Effective cultural heritage protection and promotion under the ASEAN third socio-cultural pillar requires both sustainable government policies and community involvement. The ASEAN Declaration on Heritage, signed in Bangkok in 2000, declares “that all cultural heritage, identities, and expressions, cultural rights and freedoms derive from the dignity and worth inherent in the human person in creative interaction with other human persons and that the creative communities of human persons in ASEAN are the main agents and consequently should be the principal beneficiary of, and participate actively in the realization of these heritage, expressions, and rights”. To promote effective government-community partnership in cultural heritage management, to strengthen the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community as a people-centered third pillar of ASEAN, and to give organizational expression to the ASEAN Declaration on Cultural Heritage’s emphasis on “creative communities of human persons”, the ASEAN Cultural Heritage Alliance (ACHA) is established.

Much of cultural heritage legislation and strategy is based on the global best practice that has been laid down over the past half century by UNESCO and other international organizations. The transmission of global best practice by UNESCO has played a positive role in Southeast Asia’s cultural heritage protection, but as ASEAN nations have developed their own development paths, global best practice now needs to be strengthened and supplemented with indigenously sourced expertise and strategy that reflect the cultural milieu of Southeast Asia.

The member organizations of ACHA will work cooperatively inter-ASEAN. and will dialogue with the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) and the ASEAN Council of Culture Ministers, to fulfil the aspirations set forth in the ASEAN Declaration on Heritage and in the Vientiane Declaration on Reinforcing Heritage Cooperation in ASEAN of 2016. ACHA will focus initially on the Vientiane Declaration’s goal of enhancing “community awareness and involvement on the protection of heritage sites and movable and immovable cultural properties” by developing a strong Social Contract for Cultural Heritage between government, the people, and business communities for sustainable action to preserve ASEAN cultural heritage for future generations.

In support of the ASEAN Declaration on Cultural Heritage, ACHA will be a regional non-profit digital-based organization dedicated to the following three-fold mission:

• be a forum for robust discourse about heritage among ASEAN heritage professional practitioners, civil society and community organizations, and interested members of the general public, and to promote public awareness of the importance of heritage protection as a vital component of sustainable national and regional development;
• be a think-tank and resource centre, supporting ASEAN’s policy and decision makers in heritage, through analysis, consultation, training, organizing seminars and conferences, and highlighting to governments and the general public key issues of heritage, acting as a responsible “third force”, indigenous to ASEAN but independent of official, trans-national, and commercial stakeholders, and serving as a bridge between the heritage interests and goals of people, business and government;
• be a responsible, locally-based advocate to propose “development of heritage management programs in ASEAN to place cultural heritage at the heart of the ASEAN community building efforts” and “creative solutions to protect heritage sites from damaging commercialization and urbanization”, to the ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Culture and Arts and to the ASEAN Senior Officers Meeting for Culture and Arts, as set forth in the Vientiane Declaration.

ACHA Structure:

Format: ACHA will operate principally through digital network communications between its members, supplemented as needed by face to face meetings and other events. This format will be efficient, cost- effective, and attract participation on the part of the digitally adept younger age cohort in ASEAN, who will be the principal beneficiaries of cultural heritage protection.

Financial accounting and logistical support will in the start-up phase be provided by the Siam Society under Royal Patronage (Thai founding member), the Singapore Heritage Society (Singapore founding member), and the founding organization member of the country which is the rotating ASEAN chairman for that year.

Membership: Indigenous non-governmental organizations dedicated to cultural heritage protection and domiciled and legally registered in ASEAN nations will be the core members of ACHA. (See Annex A for list and description of core members). Initially, ACHA is established by one founding member-organization from each country. ACHA will come into existence when founding organizations have joined representing 2/3 of the ten ASEAN nations. (ACHA as of August 2020 has seven founding organizations, so the work of ACHA may commence).

Other organizations may subsequently join by invitation as full members. Non-governmental organizations from nations outside ASEAN may join ACHA as non-voting Dialogue Partners, but only organizations from ASEAN nations will be full members. Additionally, individuals, academics, and heritage professionals, who are committed to working together to create a platform to facilitate public discourse in the area of heritage protection in ASEAN region and its member countries may join by invitation as individual non-voting members.

Governance: A Board of Directors will be constituted, composed of one director for each ASEAN nation. That director should be prepared to contribute time to developing and managing ACHA at the board level. The Chairman shall be nominated by the founding organization of the country which is the ASEAN rotating chairman each year, with a term corresponding to the term of the ASEAN chairmanship.

This board will meet as needed online and in physical meetings to develop policy recommendations; arrange funding and approve budgets; select and oversee management; set ACHA’s strategy, programs and activities; and review performance against mission. Board directors will serve for three-year terms, and no director may serve more than three consecutive terms but may be reappointed if the Director steps down for one term.

ASEAN Mandate: The ASEAN Council of Cultural Ministers and AIPA are requested to designate ACHA as an ongoing dialogue partner in promoting ASEAN’s third pillar in the area of cultural heritage protection.

Funding: Funding will be through grants.

Program: ACHA program plan for the initial five-year period of 2019-2024 will focus on establishing a cultural heritage social contract (hereinafter referred to as “Social Contract”) within ASEAN. The Social Contract will link government, the people, and the business sector in a joint commitment to culturalheritage protection policies and actions to deliver flourishing cultural heritage intact to future generations