|
STATEMENT NEW YORK, 06 NOVEMBER 2007 I should like to preface my remarks by expressing deep appreciation to the Secretary-General for his active participation in the debate and for the important insights he has shared. Regional and sub-regional organizations have become an integral part of the global architecture. They are increasingly recognized for their role in the promotion of security and prosperity in their respective regions. Indonesia is a consistent and robust supporter of regional organizations. It is a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It has vigorously promoted interregional cooperation involving Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific, and between Asia and Africa. It has also strongly supported cooperation between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations. In that spirit, we have initiated this meeting of the Council. The capability of regional and subregional organizations to promote international peace and security is yet to be fully realized. The wealth of their experience in this vital activity is yet to be tapped. In accordance with Chapter VIII of the UN Charter, modalities can be developed to enhance their contribution to international peace and security. Indonesia’s experience as a founding member of ASEAN attests to the importance of a regional organization to peace and security. On the basis of that experience, we offer the following observations: First, a regional organization can fundamentally shift the dynamics of the region toward peace and security. It can build bridges of understanding; it can transform relations from enmity to amity; and it can bring stability and prosperity where conflict and discord previously reigned. When ASEAN was established in 1967, a war was raging in Southeast Asia, which was then an economic backwater. Trust and confidence among the five founding members were at a low point. With patience and perseverance, taking a step-by-step building-block approach, ASEAN has grown to include ten Southeast Asian countries. For forty years, ASEAN member countries have enjoyed peace and security. Thus it has enabled the region to focus on economic development, which in turn reinforces peace and stability. ASEAN’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) serves as a code of conduct for relations among its members and between ASEAN and acceding external states. Signatories and acceding states renounce the use of force and bind themselves to peacefully settling their disputes in the region. Indeed, ASEAN has been able to reinforce the norms of the UN Charter and conflict prevention efforts. Our second observation is that, a regional or subregional organization must adapt to new challenges to remain relevant to the pursuit of international peace and security. In the face of the challenges of the downside of globalization and the new threats to human security, ASEAN is transforming itself from a rather loose association of states into an ASEAN Community resting on three pillars: an ASEAN Security Community, an ASEAN Economic Community and an ASEAN Sociocultural Community. The attainment of an ASEAN Security Community will enhance ASEAN’s capacity for conflict prevention and resolution and post-conflict peace building. It will entail “political development” based on the principles of democracy, human rights and good governance. ASEAN will thus emerge as a Community that goes beyond addressing economic and social issues and traditional security concerns. It will be deeply committed to human rights and democracy. The ASEAN Charter is expected to be signed two weeks from now. Its adoption will make ASEAN as a rule-based organization. Third, a regional organization can influence the dynamics for peace and prosperity well beyond its geographic borders. Since its inception in 1967, while promoting internal integration, ASEAN has pursued an outward-looking strategy. It has been an open organization that continues to enhance cooperation beyond its geographical boundary and with other regional organizations. Thus it has cultivated dialogue partner relations with ten countries and organizations. It maintains an ASEAN+3 cooperation with China, Japan and South Korea, a process that links Southeast Asia with Northeast Asia. It is the driving spirit behind the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which it established in 1994 and the only forum of dialogue and consultation on political and security issues, confidence building and preventive diplomacy in the larger Asia-Pacific region. In 2005 ASEAN launched the East Asia Summit, bringing the countries of the ASEAN+3 process together with Australia, India, and New Zealand. The Summit envisions the establishment of a new architecture for peace, security and prosperity in East Asia. ASEAN has developed dialogues with Europe through ASEM and Latin America through FEALAC. Thus ASEAN is sharing with countries beyond its own region its norms and practices in the promotion of peace and security. And thus, although the ASEAN membership does not formally include countries in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific, through dialogue partner mechanism, the activities of ASEAN cover these larger regions. Indonesia has been a great proponent of such ASEAN driven efforts. Indeed, Indonesia has also promoted, and directly benefited from, intra-regional cooperation. Indonesia wishes in this connection to pay tribute to the European Union and ASEAN for their contribution in our successful effort to restore peace and security in the Province of Aceh during the year 2005 – 2007; in particular by providing a joint monitoring team to supervise the implementation of the Aceh peace agreement. Indonesia is deeply committed and involved in these intra-regional and inter-regional activities. At the same time, we are also deeply committed to the principles, ideals and goals of the United Nations. Hence, we are totally convinced of the strategic need for enhanced cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations. Through such cooperation, we can effectively address the global security challenges of our time. It is Indonesia’s fervent hope that our discussions today will help attain that goal. Thank you. .
|
