Statement by
Mr. Darmansjah Djumala
Representative of the Indonesian Delegation
before the 58th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
On Agenda Item 1:
"Report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization"
and Agenda Item 61:
"Implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration"


New York, 6 October 2003

Mr. President,
The delegation of Indonesia welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization (A/58/l), his annual summary of how the United Nations has responded to the issues before it in the previous year, as well as his report on the implementation of the United Nations Declaration (A/58/323). We are proud of this opportunity to make a contribution to this discussion, in view of the fact that the past year emerged as one of the most intriguing that our esteemed Organization has ever seen.

Appropriately, the Secretary-General gives due recognition and appreciation of this point when he observes early in the Report on the Work of the Organization that the war in Iraq tested the principle of collective security as well as the resilience of the United Nations. It is safe to say that the situation in Iraq brought the United Nations face to face with its own mortality as an entity. If I speak in the past tense, it is not because we are over that danger, by any stretch of the imagination. The war itself is over, but the process of winning the peace is more troubled than executing the war ever was, precisely because of the background here at the United Nations, of that war.

In this regard, my delegation is of the same mind as the Secretary-General that the United Nations, if the appropriate lesson have been learned from this experience and the appropriate measures taken, can emerge from the challenge posed by the situation in Iraq stronger, surer, and of greater benefit to the peoples of the world.

Mr. President,

Speaking in the general debate on 23 September 2003, President Megawati Soekarnoputri of Indonesia drew the attention of the General Assembly to the need to tackle the scourge of terrorism by ensuring that its root causes are adequately addressed. As Indonesia, a nation that has twice in the past year has seen the worst of terrorism, has always stressed here in the United Nations, nothing is an admissible excuse for terrorism. While adequate international effort must be mobilized against it, therefore, attention must also be paid to addressing those issues that might, in a roundabout way, provide justification for those that might want to engage in it. Of key concern here, as President Megawati indicated, is the search for social and political justice.

In this regard, it is noteworthy that in his report, the Secretary-General observes that indirect links to terrorism, such as poverty and grievance over injustice, must be taken into consideration in fashioning strategies aimed at addressing terrorism. We believe strongly in Indonesia that by genuinely addressing these fundamental issues, it will be more and more difficult for terrorists to find adherents or strong support.
This approach, Mr. President, is akin to the relationship between peace and development. While underdevelopment should never be used as an excuse for disturbances of the peace, it unfortunately is always a ready excuse or natural fallout. That is why development is a natural answer to conflict in the same way that addressing issues of poverty and injustice provides a handle to combating terrorism.

Mr. President,
Indonesia notes with concern the chronic shortfalls in funding to deal with humanitarian crises internationally. Whereas the United Nations produced 27 consolidated appeals for $5.8 billion to provide humanitarian assistance, the international response yielded only 52 per cent of the amount requested. With that money 45 million victims of conflict, drought and other emergencies received the help they desperately needed. However, the 48 per cent shortfall means that many millions of lives, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, would have been placed in great peril during the reporting period.

In this regard, the point needs to be re-emphasized that international security is put at risk when individual security is put at risk. The gap between the two must therefore be closed for peace to prevail and for development to take place.

The present situation in Iraq, where the humanitarian crisis intensifies almost daily, embodies this challenge. Though facing a highly volatile scenario there, we are pleased to note the accomplishments of the United Nations system in that country, not the least of which is the courage and determination of the system to respond to the needs of millions of ordinary Iraqis whose only desire is for peace and the opportunity to live life in larger freedom. In the same way that the United Nations has pressed forward with its humanitarian work, despite the constraints of inadequate funding and threats from military action in the field, it has also remained fully committed and involved in the implementation process of recent major international conferences and summits in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Mr. President,

Indonesia is in full agreement with the critical elements identified by the Secretary-General to enhance the process of development globally. There is consensus on the need for new and increased financing for development as mandated by the Monterrey Consensus. Likewise, there is agreement that cooperation from the private sector also facilitates financing of the development process and helps to mobilize societies to attain national development goals. Through job creation, the private sector also helps to alleviate and eradicate poverty and create opportunities for women at all levels in society.

While the role of the private sector is not to be ignored, it is equally important that governll1ents live up to their responsibility to create an enabling environment for development to take place. Through their coherently organized policies and programmes, sustainable development must be placed well within the reach of individuals, groups and institutions in their societies. Their policies and programmes must lead simultaneously to sustained economic growth, social development and environment protection as mandated by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg, South Africa.

However, without international cooperation to achieve internationally agreed development goals, including those of the Millennium Declaration, national efforts will be seriously handicapped. Aiming for the achievement the MDGs within the specific timeframes is not being impractical or utopian, as some might be tempt to believe. In paragraph 49 of his Report on the implementation of e Millennium declaration, the Secretary-General made the point very clearly, "Rapi advances in s e areas have shown that the Millennium Development Goals, while ambitious, can b reached at the global level. They are still achievable at the national level for nearly eve country". But success in meeting global challenges, he observes, is hinged upon the display of the necessary political will at the global level.

That is why Indonesia has been greatly disappointed by the outcome of the WTO's Fifth Ministerial Conference held in Cancun t e weeks ago ere nothing of real substance was accomplished. In his Report the Secretary-Gene 1 points to a "successful round of trade negotiations" as a critic element for t development process, yet Cancun did not take a single significant step of progress forward. Delegates came out as they went in, empty-handed. The political will obviously was lacking there.

Apart from concessjons for poor countries to access cheaply produced generjc drugs to combat the HIV/AIDS epjdemic, nothing else note occurred. was estimated that if Cancun had negotiated solid free trade agreements, they would have generated some $520 billion in income gajns for both rich and poor countries d reduced the number of the world's poor by as many as 144 million people by 2015.

The Secretary-General also highlighted as a critical development element the use of new technologjes such as information and communications technologies for poverty eradication purposes. In the light of this recommendation Indonesja wish to state that it fully supports the World Summit on the Information Society, phase on of which will take place in Geneva in December 2003 while phase two will be held in Tunis in 2005. The vision of this Conference is to create an information society as a w and higher form of Social organization, which enables people, especially women, to achieve their full potential, promotes sustainable economic and socjal development, improves qualjty of ljfe and alleviates poverty and hunger through equitable and widespread access to information.

In both of his reports, the Secretary-General paints a picture of Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, as a contjnent experiencing severe stress but willing to cooperate in whatever way necessary to extricate itself from the difficulties in which it has found itself. Over the last year, the UN System continued to be an invaluable source of assistance, helping African countries deal with the humanitarian consequences of conflict situations, natural disasters and HIV/AIDs, all of which have made development a doubly difficult challenge for the continent. However, Africa’s strategy to deal with this challenge, NEPAD, has been endorsed by the General Assembly and is supported by the UNDP and UNCEF, among others.
As a way of supplementjng these efforts and promoting South-South cooperation, Indonesja hosted last July the two-day Asian-African Sub-Regional Organizations Conference (AASROC) in Bandung. That Conference was held to establish a New Strategic Partnership between Asia and Africa, the foundation for which was laid in 1955. Using their differences as strengths to complement each other, Asia and Africa will draw lessons from their experiences in overcoming problems related to political, social, economic and development issues as part of their development processes. In this context my delegation welcomes the outcomes of the recently held Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD III), which emphasizes support for NEP AD as one of its basic themes. We are grateful that Japan will extend a total of $1 billion in grant aid to Africa over the next five years for health and medical care. TICAD, as mentioned in the Secretary-General' s report, has also been involved in modernizing the communication sector in Africa. Hopefully, this momentum for Africa's development will increase in the near future.

Mr. President,

It is Indonesia's view that the Reports of the Secretary-General leave us with no illusions about the challenges facing us. In particular, we note his anxiety about the deep divisions within the international community caused by the war against Iraq. It is clear though that political maturity and sound judgment are helping to heal the wounds inflicted on the internationally community by that war. On the other hand, his Reports have recorded significant accomplishments on all fronts. We are encouraged by this.

In closing, Indonesia strongly urges that the necessary reforms to make the UN system more effective and efficient not be delayed any further. We cannot agree more with the Secretary-General's observation that the Security Council needs to be reformed in order to regain the confidence of States, in particular those of the developing world, by showing itself to be truly representative of their views and interests. The Council's composition must also reflect current geopolitical realities. The truth is we all want a better, stronger, more capable United Nations, which represents the best hope for multilateralism in a highly interdependent world. For that to happen, the Organization must prove itself to be flexible and adaptable.

With regard to paragraph 74 of the report, concerning the situation in Aceh, my delegation would like to set the records straight. There is no resumption of military activity against the separatist movement. What we have is a combined operation, which contains a humanitarian aspect that has borne fruit. The Acehnese, who had been the victims of extortion, killings and other acts of terrorism perpetrated by the armed separatist movement, have shown their full support for the integrated or combined operation without fear of retaliation from the armed separatists.

Besides the humanitarian aspect, another aspect of the combined operation is the revitalization of the civil administrations and the implementation of the rule of law. In the five months since the combined operation began on 19 May 2003, the situation in Aceh has improved considerably. Another positive development is that hundreds of members of the armed separatist movement “GAM” voluntarily surrendered. The Government accepted them and provided them with vocational training so that they would have appropriate skills when they are returned to the community.

I thank you Mr. President.