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Statement by: New York, 30 September 2002Mr. Chairman, To begin, allow me to extend, on behalf of the Indonesian delegation, our sincere congratulations to you and the distinguished members of the Bureau of the Second Committee on your respective elections. My delegation highly commends the Secretary-General for his efforts in providing his reports on the various agenda items of the Second Committee as early as possible. We also wish to associate our delegation with the statement made by the distinguished Representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. Mr. Chairman, We meet today against a backdrop of a number of landmark United Nations meetings, including the conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. This year therefore, should truly be dedicated to implementation. In a very real sense, this Second Committee is tasked with implementing the outcomes of the major conferences. We must forge ways and means to effectively do so. The central challenges we face is that of eradicating dehumanizing poverty and hunger, ensuring that globalization works and becomes a positive force for all and the advancement of the objectives of sustainable development by integrating each of its three mutually reinforcing components. Furthermore, the continuing uncertainty of the global political, economic, and social situation posed additional challenges. During the course of the GA's general debate we heard a plethora of statements highlighting the importance of multilateralism for solving global problems. The Foreign Minister of Indonesia stressed that multilateralism entails respect for one another's point of view and therefore requires consultations and the forging of consensus. That is why, the multilateral response serves as our best hope for resolving these challenges and particularly for combating the twin scourges of our time, international terrorism and poverty, both of which are closely intertwined. In this context, the role of the General Assembly, as the highest body within the strengthened United Nations system, is vital in providing policy guidance for our efforts to implement the outcomes of these conferences. Thus, the role of the United Nations, as the most universal organization, should be further strengthened to enable it to ensure coherence with the activities of other international financial and trade organizations in accordance with the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter. Furthermore, there is an urgent need for us in this session to continue the reform process of the work of the GA so as to enable it to function effectively in ensuring the full implementation of all agreements achieved in major UN conferences and summits. Mr. Chairman, The Millennium Declaration, the Doha Ministerial Agreement on international trade, the Monterrey Consensus and the Johannesburg Implementation Plan mapped out the challenges and the ways and means to overcome them, time-bound targets as well as its monitoring mechanism to achieve the common objectives of the international community. Each of their outcomes should serve as important blueprints within which we should focus our collective efforts in the years ahead. In this context, I wish to reiterate the spirit developed in all these major agreements which is that neither financial issues, nor trade, nor development cooperation should be considered in isolation. As to implementation of the MDGs, the Secretary-General has reported that, though some progress was already made, however, achieving the agreed time-bound targets will be impossible if the current pace of progress continues. What is needed is an improvement in the national and international enabling environments to promote cooperation and, most importantly, to mobilize domestic and international financial resources. International trade too, is critical. Promoting and securing an open, equitable and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system in accordance with the Doha agreement is well recognized and ensuring greater market access to products from developing countries is very essential. It generates external earnings to implement sustainable development. Therefore, we must not fail to follow up on Doha. The utilization of Special Drawing Rights for development purposes and the further development of debt for sustainable development swaps particularly on behalf of the middle-income countries are also critical means in mobilizing financial resources for development. In addition, my delegation also considers debt swaps as essential ways and means for achieving a sustainable debt solution. The challenge of globalization and interdependence demands a coherent response. We therefore need to enable the United Nations system to enhance the coherence and consistency of the international monetary, financial and trading systems. Thus, we support the Secretary-General's proposal to continue improving global economic governance and to strengthen the United Nations leadership role in promoting development. For these reasons and more, my delegation is committed to staying engaged in the process of building bridges between development, finance and trade organizations. We will also stay engaged within the holistic agenda of the Monterrey Consensus and for strengthening the United Nations. Mr. Chairman, The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which ended a few weeks ago in Johannesburg, comprehensively reviewed the implementation of Agenda 21 and sought to reinvigorate the global commitments to sustainable development at the highest levels. In the process, the Summit developed a new spirit to comprehensively address the three mutually reinforcing elements of sustainable development. Its comprehensive plan of implementation provides an overarching and essential requirements for achieving sustainable development. The Summit sets out ways and means to implement the MDGs together with additional time-bound targets for promoting the protection and management of the natural resource base of economic and social development. For this purpose the means of implementation are imperative. But to achieve success more is needed. To successfully implement and monitor all WSSD commitments we must also elaborate an institutional framework in accordance with the Summit agreements. Thus, we look forward to the Secretary-General's proposal on the new modalities for the work of the Commission on Sustainable Development as the high-level mechanism as well as the role of ECOSOC and GA to ensure coherency in the Summit's agreement. Mr. Chairman Since devastating financial crises still plague the developing countries, there is an urgent need for the United Nations to vigorously pursue greater coherence between the United Nations and the international financial, monetary and trading systems. This would require a strengthened role for the developing countries in decision-making and norm setting in the various international bodies, thereby helping to increase the universal acceptance and legitimacy of the agreements and their effective and efficient implementation. It would also entail increased consultation with the private sector and civil society. To conclude, there can be no doubt that we are facing a unique choice during our deliberations in this Second Committee session, a choice to ensure that the objectives of the recent major conferences are fully implemented in accordance with the spirit of the continuing reform process to strengthen the role of the UN. If we are successful, the dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty would be eliminated and the patterns of unsustainable consumption and production would be on the path to reversal. Likewise, the degradation of the Earth's fragile ecosystems would be effectively redressed while globalization should also work for all. Thank you.
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