In recent years, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)—a regional inter-governmental organisation that promotes cooperation and integration between Southeast Asian countries—has taken a number of steps towards improving protection of human rights within the region. In 2004, it committed to promoting ‘human rights and obligations’ as part of the Vientiane Action Program, a plan aimed at building an ASEAN community. It subsequently adopted human rights as one of its core principles in its founding document, the ASEAN Charter, in 2007; established an Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights in 2009; and issued an ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD) in 2012.