Statement
by
H.E. Adiyatwidi Adiwoso A
Deputy Permanent Representative
Before the Third Committee of the 59th Session of
the United Nations General Assembly
on Agenda item 101 :
“Promotion and Protection of The Rights of Children"
New York, 19 October 2004
Mr. President,
On behalf of my delegation, first of all, I would like to extend our
appreciation to you and members of the Bureau for your resolute efforts
to ensure the successful work of this Committee.
My delegation is grateful to the UN Secretary-General for his comprehensive
report, particularly on the outcome of the 28th special session of
the UN General Assembly and the progress achieved in realizing the
commitments set out in the document “A World fit for children”.
In fact, the document has set a basis for the Indonesian Government
to advance child rights-based national development planning and programme.
Indonesia shares the view that our current progress in building a
world fit for children would be a major step in fulfilling the commitments
made at the Millennium Summit. It is therefore, its agenda is closely
linked with international efforts to ensure truly sustained development
and to mobilize additional resources, owing to the very high potential
of effective investments in the health, education, and protection
of children to contribute to broad-based poverty reduction and socio-economic
progress.
In commemoration of National Children’s Day last July, President
Megawati Soekarnoputri launched the National Program for Children
in Indonesia 2015, in line with the target and goals of the MDGs.
The program covers the key issues of child health and nutrition, children
and HIV, early childhood care and development, basic nine-year education,
and child protection. Simultaneously, the former President also signed
the inauguration of various national campaigns on Education for All;
Provision of Birth Certificates; and No-Smoking in School Areas.
Mr. President,
Allow me to share with you some of the progress being made and challenges
affecting key thematic areas pertinent to the advancement of our children’s
welfare.
Following the enactment of the Law on Child Protection in 2002, a
National Committee on Child Protection was established in order to
ensure the implementation the Law through monitoring and evaluation
measures. The Committee consists of various concerned authorities
from governmental and non-governmental.
On health issues, targets for the next 5 years are geared to the government’s
vision of achieving a “Healthy Indonesia” by 2010. The
targets include, among others:
• Reducing mother and infant mortality respectively to 2/3 and
1/3 of their 2001 rates by 2015. In its most recent statement, the
UNICEF acknowledges that Indonesia is on track to reach the infant
mortality target since in just over a decade, Indonesia has managed
to cut by half its mortality rate for children under five, from the
rate of 91 deaths per 1000 in 1990 to 45;
• Reducing the prevalence of malnutrition for under five-year-olds
to 2/3 of the 2001 rate by 2015;
• Increasing sanitation facilities and the supply of clean water;
• Combating HIV/AIDS through the 2003-2007 National Strategy,
which incorporates appropriate law and regulation frameworks, and
by raising awareness among parents, young people and communities through
information campaigns;
• Encouraging vaccination and immunization through information
campaigns and the distribution of vitamins;
• Reviving the Small Integrated Care Services to provide basic
health care at the grass root level in all districts.
Under education, Indonesia’s Law no. 20/2003 on the National
Education System underlines the paramount importance of education
in the overall development program of Indonesia. The law stipulates
the considerable budget allocations that have to be made to support
the nine-year compulsory education program in order to enhance the
quality of basic education and provide financial support for low-income
families to send their children to school.
Priorities for the next five years will concentrate on:
• Providing all children, especially in poor rural areas, with
better access to schools;
• Improving the knowledge, skills and attitude of parents, in
ways to benefit the development of their children;
• Disseminating information on the social and economic benefits
of schooling and in particular eliminating the gender-bias toward
the girl child;
• Encouraging school attendance by children in the 0-6 year
age group;
• Improving the quality of teachers, books and infrastructure;
• Improving access to education for disabled children.
On the issue of child abuse, various policy measures have been taken
to address this scourge both at national and regional levels. Currently
Indonesia is implementing three National Action Plans on the Elimination
of the Worst Forms of Child Labor; Commercial Sexual Exploitation
of Children; and Trafficking in Women and Children.
At regional level, the Indonesian Government, in close collaboration
with the International Organization of Migration (IOM) and with the
participation of its neighbors in the region, notably ASEAN and Australia,
organized the Batam Conference last February and endorsed a series
of concerted actions to combat widespread commercial sexual exploitation
of children in the region.
Mr. President,
Last January in Geneva, the Indonesian Government conducted a dialogue
with the Committee on the Rights of the Child to consider Indonesia’s
second periodic report. The dialogue was extremely fruitful and productive.
Fully aware of the overriding importance of that dialogue for continued
progress in implementing the various commitments of the Convention,
several recommendations and observations made by the Committee are
being taken into consideration and integrated into national strategies
in line with Indonesian policies on children.
To conclude, Mr. President, we must ensure “A World Fit for
Children” is not only an empty promise. We are all obliged to
exert ourselves to convert this promise into reality. In this regard,
international cooperation is indeed essential, particularly to strengthen
national capacity-building in order to implement effectively the outcome
document of the special session on children at the national level.
I thank you.
