As ASEAN pivots toward its new Community Vision 2045, the region faces a crucial demographic transition: sustained population ageing. While the demographic dividend has historically driven economic growth in Southeast Asia, the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Strategic Plan, adopted at the 46th ASEAN Summit in May 2025, identifies ageing societies as a major long-term trend. With the conclusion of the ASCC Blueprint 2025, the new Strategic Plan aims to build a resilient, inclusive, and people-centred ASEAN by 2045. Within this framework, the ASCC is tasked with a pivotal role in addressing the economic and social implications of ageing, and identifying areas for improved resilience, innovation, and social cohesion.

Priorities of the ASCC Strategic Plan: From Welfare to Empowerment

The ASCC Strategic Plan outlines a comprehensive approach to population ageing, positioning the “care economy” not merely as a social support mechanism, but also as an area of economic activity and employment. Strategic Goal 3 emphasises leveraging the demographic dividend while building “age-friendly societies”. This involves integrating ageing considerations into national development plans, promoting “healthy, active, and successful ageing,” and supporting flexible employment and retirement
policies for older persons who wish to remain economically active.

The plan also links demographic resilience with economic opportunity. It calls for the development of products, technologies, services, and solutions that respond to the needs of the ageing population, positioning the care economy as a source of growth and innovation. This shift from “welfare” to “empowerment” aims to enable functional independence and continued social participation. In parallel, the plan adopts a rights-based approach, mandating the prevention of abuse and age-based discrimination, and equitable access to public services, income generation, and legal protection.

Health Security and the Promise of Active Ageing

Health security is a central component of the ASCC agenda on ageing. The Strategic Plan prioritises action to reduce risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which disproportionately affect older populations. It also advocates for the strengthening of health systems to be resilient against future health emergencies, integrating the principles of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) to include the management of NCDs and mental health.

Beyond treatment, the plan promotes healthy lifestyles and universal access to healthcare. A “healthy ASEAN populace” with higher life expectancy and well-being for all ages thus requires accessible mental health services, healthy active ageing, and addressing the interaction between health outcomes
and broader social factors such as poverty and social exclusion.

Digital Inclusion for the Silver Generation

The ASCC Strategic Plan also addresses the implications of digitalisation for social inclusion. Strategic Goal 1 promote an inclusive and sustainable digital society particularly for older persons who risk exclusion from digital workplaces and services. The plan supports lifelong learning and skills development as a means of maintaining employability and participation
in a digital economy.

Furthermore, the plan seeks to bridge the digital divide to empower all ASEAN peoples, which includes ensuring that digital infrastructure and skills are accessible to vulnerable groups. Digital tools are positioned as a way to improve the delivery of social services and healthcare, making them more efficient and accessible for the elderly.

Social Protection and Resilience

At the heart of the “caring Community” goal is the commitment to leave no one behind, strengthening social protection systems across the life cycle. Strategic Goal 2 focuses on equitable and shared prosperity, particularly for vulnerable groups. The plan calls for adaptive social protection that strengthen family resilience and well-being including sustainable financing mechanisms for social protection and social pensions.

The plan also addresses the intersection of ageing and climate change. It aims to minimise the vulnerability of people including elderly living in at-risk areas to climate-related extreme events, by integrating gender-responsive and agesensitive disaster risk management. These measures are intended to empower community resilience.

Looking Ahead in 2026

With Philippines assuming the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2026, the region turns its attention to the theme “Navigating Our Future, Together”. The “People Empowerment” pillar places the rights of vulnerable groups, including the elderly, at the core of its socio-cultural agenda. Key challenges will include translating the ASCC Strategic Plan into practical initiatives, narrowing the development gaps among member states, and ensuring that social protection systems can accommodate ageing populations across different income levels. Strengthening the care economy as a regional priority is also likely to feature prominently, consistent with the Philippines’ focus on social protection and family support.

Amid broader geopolitical uncertainty and domestic pressures, the 2026 Chairmanship will test ASEAN’s ability to align its socio-cultural commitments with economic and technological change. The extent to which regional integration delivers tangible improvements in quality of life, particularly for older populations, will be a key measure of progress toward the Community Vision 2045.