Statement
by
Mr. Immanuel Robert Inkiriwang
Charge d’Affaires ad interim
Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Vienna
Before the 60th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
On agenda item 84:
“Report of the International Atomic Energy Agency”

New York, 31 October 2005

Mr. President,

At the outset, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, I would like to begin by warmly congratulating Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei on his reappointment to the post of Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency for a third term. Indonesia is fully confident that under his excellent leadership, characterized by a high degree of diplomatic and technical professionalism, which has gained respect and trust of the member countries, he will lead us to a successful accomplishment of our collective objectives and the tasks of the Agency. Let me reassure of my Government’s full support and cooperation in carrying out the mandate entrusted to this important Agency. In this connection, having been elected this year to serve as a member of the Board of Governors of the IAEA for the period of 2005 – 2007, Indonesia looks forward to working closely with Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei.

On the agenda item before this plenary, I would like also to express our appreciation to the Director General for the Annual Report of the IAEA on the activities of the Agency over the past year in various areas. Let me also avail of this opportunity to express our appreciation for its consistent efforts in fulfilling its mandate and enlarging its core competence in the past years, by responding to the nuclear issues and related issues. The Report of the IAEA has brought out the recognition on the significance and value of Agency's work, which has immense impact on the health and well being of the people in the world, as well as world peace and development.

The IAEA with its comprehensive membership covering almost the entire world, especially the developing Member States, has made its considerable contribution in recent years to the application of nuclear energy for social and economic development related to health, agriculture, water management and preservation of the environment. It has undertaken activities ranging from assisting countries to assess their groundwater resources and improve their agricultural productivity; to re-evaluating the seismic safety of nuclear facilities and assisting in the upgrading of their physical protection; and from supporting the development of national energy strategies; to continuing efforts to ensure a more effective and efficient safeguards system.

This indeed deserves the continued and whole-hearted support from all of its members. We applaud the IAEA for these achievements and numerous other achievements.

Mr. President,

We welcome the attention by the IAEA to the issue of technical assistance, which highlights three elements that are essential for the successful implementation of the Technical Cooperation Programme, namely, strong government commitment, high quality of TC projects and adequate funding. We are encouraged by the Country Programme Frameworks that are used to stimulate a structured dialogue between the Agency and the Member States, aligning the country’s TC programme with national needs and priorities, and support the increasing priority given to technical cooperation among developing countries, using local expertise and facilities to enhance the capacity of the programme. However, my delegation must emphasize that this should be unrelated to the donor countries' contributions to the TC Fund so that the funding can be assured, sufficient and predictable, to implement the programme as planned for the benefit of all recipient states.

Pursuant to the Technical Cooperation Report for 2004, my delegation notes with satisfaction that commitments and support from Member States were clearly marked by an increase in the Technical Cooperation Fund from $ 62.6 million in 2003 to $ 75.6 million in 2004. However, in the same time, extra-budgetary resources dropped by almost $1 million, and in-kind contributions also fell around $0.4 million. While in total the new resources for the TC programme still increased, it is our opinion that the Agency should make every effort to avoid further decreases in both the extra-budgetary resources and in-kind contribution in the following years.

With regard to the management of technical cooperation for development, we welcome the restructuring of the Department of Technical Cooperation of the Agency into four new geographical regions, that leads to regrouping not only of staff responsibilities and tasks, but also of countries in a particular region. In this connection, my delegation hopes that it could arrange briefings in the future on developments in every phase of the restructuring process.

Mr. President,

Indonesia believes that it is important to increase the representation of staff from developing countries in the Agency. We are happy to note the increasing attention of the Agency to this issue which is reflected by stressing the importance of recruiting staff from as wide a geographical distribution as possible, including increasing number of staff from developing countries. As indicated by the DG’s statement at the 49th General Conference of the IAEA, there has been an increasing number of states, from 77 to 98 Member States, that are represented in the Professional Staff, and the percentage of staff from developing countries has continued to increase. However, we share the concern that there has not been a sufficient and corresponding increase in the number of well-qualified female applicants. It is our common responsibility to address this unacceptable reality through initiatives that would lead to a substantial increase in their numbers in the Agency.

Indonesia, with other developing countries, attaches greatest importance to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Therefore, we are gratified to note, as pointed out in the Annual Report, that the Agency is assisting Member States in their efforts to achieve the UN MDGs target of reducing in half by 2015 the number of people who suffer from hunger, by providing technical support to develop and evaluate strategies to combat hunger and malnutrition. Indonesia recognizes the importance of strategies to combat malnutrition. However, limited financial resources and technologies have been the major constraints faced by the developing countries, and we have to address this as a matter of urgency. Moreover, we also commend the active participation of the Agency in promoting sustainable development, which is one objective of the UN MDGs, through coordination of inter-agency’s publication as contained in the Energy Indicators for Sustainable Development: Guidelines and Methodologies.

Mr. President,

The IAEA has the ability to effectively face up to several challenges on issues of verification and safeguards system. We appreciate the extensive efforts made by the Agency in strengthening the verification system, and the positive developments on the status of Safeguards Agreements and Additional Protocols that steadily increased. As indicated in the DG’s report for the last year, NPT safeguards agreements have entered into force for five more states, and additional protocols have entered into force for nine additional states, and this made a total of 71 States with Additional Protocols in force or provisionally applied.

On the application of the IAEA safeguards and nuclear verification, my delegation has repeatedly pointed out that the Additional Protocol constitutes the centerpiece of the Agency’s response in strengthening the effectiveness and improvement of the safeguards system as a contribution to global non-proliferation objectives, especially needed to derive credible assurance regarding the non-diversion of nuclear materials and the absence of the undeclared nuclear materials and activities.

To facilitate these measures, during the course of this year, there have been some initiatives aimed at strengthening the integrity of the IAEA’s safeguards regime. We recall the creation of the Committee on Safeguards and Verification with a view to strengthening the safeguards system. While certain situations may demand a strong, effective and adaptable safeguards regime, we believe that the Committee should play its role proportionately in complementing the work of the IAEA. In other words, the work of the Committee should not duplicate that of the Agency, and Indonesia looks forward to have a more clear picture on the mandate and the discussions on the functioning of the Committee. We encourage the Agency to continue its leadership as the sole competent authority for nuclear verification within the framework of the Agency’s safeguards system. We consider the importance of the Agency to preserve its integrity, professionalism and impartiality that has long characterized its work.

The IAEA has a constructive role in working towards a comprehensive settlement that would provide assurance to the international community that all nuclear activities are exclusively for peaceful purposes. It is encouraging to note the development so far with regard to the nuclear issues in the DPRK, and we welcome in this regard the progress made through the Six-Party Talks and the commitment made by the DPRK to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes and to observe the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the IAEA safeguards.

Indonesia, in the line with Vienna Chapter of the Non Aligned Movement's position, believes that all issues on safeguards and verification should be resolved within the framework of the IAEA and based on technical grounds, and most importantly through the constructive dialogue, negotiation and peaceful means. In this regard we reiterate the importance of the basic and inalienable rights of all Member States to develop atomic energy for civilian and peaceful purposes. The IAEA and its Member States, especially the parties involved, should recognize that substantive progress has been made in resolving the outstanding issues on the implementation of safeguards.

Mr. President,

As stated earlier, we commend the technical cooperation programme of the Agency, for it has been playing a valuable role in the development activities using nuclear technology. Indonesia remains a strong supporter of the Agency‘s technical cooperation activities, and has been consistently pledging and paying its contribution to the Technical Cooperation Fund. We therefore attach great importance to the Technical Cooperation Programme of the Agency. As in the past, we have pledged our contribution to the Technical Cooperation Fund for 2006.

I wish to express our high appreciation to the IAEA for providing Indonesia with continuous support, including the three recent technical cooperation projects related to the preparation on the construction of the Nuclear Power Plant that have been initiated among several responsible institutions in Indonesia. In anticipation to the introduction of a nuclear power plant, the national regulatory body, the BAPETEN, has embarked upon a comprehensive program to develop the entire necessary infrastructure, including the development of the required personnel, particularly in activities connected with licensing and inspection of the nuclear power plant. Therefore, cooperation and assistance provided by the Agency, in particular in the capacity-building of regulatory authority continuous to be expected. In this regard, intensive bilateral and multilateral cooperation with countries having more experiences in developing and operating nuclear power plant has become a necessity.

Mr. President,

The Nobel Peace Prize of 2005 recently awarded to the Agency and its Director General should come as no surprise, for they well-deserved it. Therefore, we wish to take this opportunity to once again on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia to wholeheartedly congratulate the International Atomic Energy Agency and its Director General, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, for being awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize for 2005. This Award undoubtedly underscores the Agency’s and that of Dr. ElBaradei’s excellent contribution to world peace, through their efforts in preventing the use of nuclear energy for military purposes and in ensuring its use and technology for peaceful purposes in the safest way.

It is our view that the work of the Agency and its Director General serves as an excellent example of the highest principles the United Nations stands for, and the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize will serve as an inspiration to many people around the globe. This is indeed a major and worthy recognition of the Agency and its Director General’s achievements and important contribution to the world and to global peace.

In conclusion, Mr President, when we look ahead, it is worthwhile to remind ourselves in this 60th Anniversary of the United Nations, that IAEA’s role is crucial in addressing the new challenges that the UN is confronted with. In the multilateral context, the United Nations in general, and the IAEA in particular are in a unique position to find new paths that could provide the impetus for international actions to significantly contribute to world peace and development.

For our part, let me reaffirm Indonesia’s strong support to the Agency and the United Nations in carrying out their respective mandates to promote the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and at the same time I would like to reiterate Indonesia’s serious commitment to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and to supporting the inalienable rights of all States to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

I thank you, Mr. President.