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Statement
New York, 31 March, 2003 Mr. Chairman, Let me begin by expressing our congratulations to you and to your distinguished colleagues in the Bureau on the success of your respective elections. My delegation would like to associate itself with the statement by the distinguished Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. Before addressing some of the issues involved let me thank the Secretary General for the valuable reports he has provided for our deliberations. I believe that they will not only add clarity to our discussions but also help us towards a deeper understanding of these complex issues. Our special theme for this session of the Commission, with its focus on education, is a timely and a crucial one. Population, education and development are inextricably linked, each having a major impact on the other. Therefore, it is important that we strive to ensure that such impacts are productive. The importance of education is unquestionable. As highlighted by the Secretary General, education is a maj or tool for building a cohesive and peaceful society for the 21St century. Through it, individuals are empowered to have choices and to make decisions over broad areas of their lives. In this regard, the fact that education is a critical foundation of all human progress has been repeatedly affirmed in major United Nations conferences and summits over the years, including the Millennium Summit. Education, as one of the core objective of the Millennium Declaration Goals (MDGs) aims to ensure that all children would be able to complete a full course of primary schooling by 2015. Together with the critical importance of education, the right to education is also well documented. Most prominently it was enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Later, in Jomtien, Thailand in 1990, strategies were forged to operationalize that right and, at the Millennium Summit a decade later, it was stressed that the achievement of universal primary education and the elimination of gender disparities in education were key objectives. Despite significant progress, Mr. Chairman, challenges are still pervasive. As a cross-cutting issue, education is directly linked to all aspects of socio-economic elements of development including population growth, illiteracy, gender issues, reproductive health, HIV prevention, the rights of the child, and human rights. One such challenge is to translate
the right of every child to a free, basic and compulsory education,
into reality. For our part in Indonesia we are determined to succeed
in meeting this challenge. Recently, we launched a major step in this
direction by adopting a historical constitutional amendment mandating
20 per cent of budget allocations for education as compared to about
7 per cent at the present time. In addition, the amendment also requested
that a so-called “moral education” at all levels of education.
Yet, it is alarming to note, as reported by the Secretary-General,
that at To meet this challenge of universal education, nine of the most populous developing countries in the world, including Indonesia, undertook the E-9 initiative which is designed to attain the goal of “Education for all” both as a fundamental right and to curb population growth. In the wake of the conference on “Education for All” enrolment accelerated though, in some regions, it declined. Yet, according to UNESCO, if we aim to meet the goal of enrolling all children in school by the year 2015, the world will have to provide for an additional 156 million school children. Another challenge we must face is in the area of population growth. As the fourth most populous country in the world, Indonesia has enormous educational challenges. The relationship of education and population growth is strongly correlated to levels of fertility, morbidity and mortality. Increases in educational levels, particularly for women, are increasingly recognized as having a direct impact on population growth rates. In fact the increased quality of young mothers greatly helps to ensure a healthier young generation, particularly of children aged five and below. Moreover, the need to eradicate illiteracy is imperative since, as stated in the Secretary-General’s report, it is a powerful predicator of poverty. It undermines development and, since two thirds of the world’s illiterate adults are women, it tends to result in increased fertility rates. Indeed, numerous studies show that the expansion of educational opportunities is one of the most powerful tools for addressing such conditions and for promoting income growth and equality. Developing countries are also challenged by the need to implementing the Cairo Plan of Action. A pervasive constraint on achieving its implementation is that of the lack of financial resources. The Cairo target of mobilizing $17 billion by the year 2000 has fallen far short of the mark. Actions by the developing countries have not been matched by assistance from the developed countries. Our challenge is therefore to reverse this negative trend and to revitalize the flow of resources. What is critical is the need to forge dynamic partnerships based on mutual interests, benefits and shared responsibilities. In conclusion, let me just say that
it is now widely accepted that education is a critical factor in meeting
the multifaceted challenges of the sustainable development. Therefore,
we need to underscore that the international community should reinvigorate
its commitment to this objective including sufficient financial resources
for its implementation. I should add that, despite the lingering impact
of our financial and other multidimensional crises in Indonesia that
continues to this day, we continue to be steadfast in implementing
the goals of ICPD, particularly in the field of education. Indeed,
the resultant fundamental changes and reforms in the wake of the crisis
have served to reshape our country and to present us with an opportunity
to integrate population concerns into development policies including
the major theme of education of this session.
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