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Statement New York, 30 October 2000 Mr. President, On behalf of my delegation, I would like, first of all, to extend my sincere gratitude to you for convening this meeting. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt appreciation to you for your commendable effort in preparing the non-paper on the implementation of Millennium Declaration. We are confident that your wise and able stewardship will guide our deliberations towards an acceptable and applicable implementation plan of the Declaration. I would like to begin my remarks by setting out some general principles that a road map for implementing Millennium Declaration should uphold. First, we welcome your intention to approach the follow-up to the Millennium Declaration in a comprehensive and balanced way. This method will help ensure achieving a consensus resolution on follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit. Second is the principle of immediacy. Some elements of the Millennium Declaration can be implemented right away and thus should be done without delay while some others need further elaboration and details. In this regard, my delegation truly appreciates you, Mr. President, for providing Table 1, annexed to the non-paper, outlining possible venues for immediate follow-up to the Millennium Declaration. The table warrants further study. We also view that the need for identifying other tracks of possible venues complementing those venues that stretch along the existing UN track remains valid. Third, main-streaming Millennium Declaration in the work of the United Nations system should be pursued in a coherent, consistent, and coordinated way. In this regard, there is a need to establish a mechanism or to strengthen the existing mechanism, such as the Administrative Committee on Coordination, with a view to ensuring that the main-streaming activities are sought in that fashion. Fourth, we believe that while non-state stakeholders are increasingly important, governments remain central to the implementation of Millennium Declaration. As an authoritative institution, governments are able not only to carry out the implementation by themselves at the national level but also to facilitate and to create a conducive atmosphere for the complementary implementation activities by non-state stakeholders. Fourth, cooperation and partnership among stakeholders are of paramount importance in the implementation of Millennium Declaration. The Declaration containing many critical elements for the future of humankind has been too challenging a task to be left only to the UN. Endeavours involving the United Nations and other stakeholders will serve to strengthen the existing resources which are pivotal to the implementation activities. Mr. President, My delegation supports the emphasis given by you in your non-paper to the importance of action taken at national level. In this regard, Indonesia is in the process towards establishing a National Committee on the Follow-Up of Major UN Conferences that can serve as a national focal point for the implementation of plans of actions, resolutions or decisions of UN major conferences, including the Millennium Declaration. At the regional level, Indonesia holds the view that regional organizations can take initiatives of converging strategies with a view to implementing the Millennium Declaration. During the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in New York on 18 September 2000 Foreign Ministers of ASEAN countries took up an item on assessment of UN Millennium Summit. The meeting has emphasized the importance of the Association in contributing to the implementation of the Millennium Declaration. As regards the role of regional organizations, my delegation continues to attache great significance to the promotion of regional organizations-United Nations cooperation and partnership. This endeavor will ensure coherence and consistency with the UN precepts in the implementation activities by those regional organizations. At the global level, international organizations and inter-regional organizations should be encouraged to embrace the Millennium Declaration in their programmes of activities. A global coherence may help the implementation of Millennium Declaration reach its objective. In line with the aforementioned perspective, my delegation holds the view that it is necessary to identify which elements are best implemented at national level, at regional level and at global level. It is also necessary to identify the ways of how to synchronize those multi-level ventures and to identify the role of the UN in that context. My delegation welcomes the contribution of civil society to the implementation of Millennium Declaration. Recently, Indonesia, in cooperation with Interreligious and International Federation for Peace (IIFWP) and World Assembly of NGOs (WANGO), supported an international conference on "The Millennium Declaration: a response from civil society," which was held in New York on 19-21 October 2000. The conference was not only a forum of dissemination but also a forum of interactive deliberation. Nonetheless, my delegation would like to reiterate its position that, while the role of civil society is increasingly important, the role of governments remains central. My delegation supports your suggestion in the non-paper regarding the features of the UN Secretary-General’s periodic report to the General-Assembly. The report should also evaluate the venues taken in the implementation activities and their consequences to the results achieved and outline recommendations on whether those venues should be pursued. Finally, Mr. President, my delegation continues to support and appreciate your unremitting and tireless efforts to ensure that we are on the right track in implementing the Millennium Declaration, and my delegation is looking forward to participating in further consultations on the issue. I thank you Mr. President.
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