The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which was established on 8 August 1967, has ten Member States, including Myanmar, which joined the economic union on 23 July 1997.
The Asia-Pacific region does not have a regional human rights system (with treaties and courts) to protect and promote human rights similar to the systems in Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights was inaugurated on 23 October 2009 and adopted the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration in November 2012. The UN has expressed concern that the declaration is not consistent with international standards.