Bismillahirahmanirahim,
Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh,
Your Excellency, Special Envoy to the President of the Republic of Indonesia on MDGs.
Your Excellencies Foreign Ministers and Other Ministers of Participating Countries,
Your Excellency Sha Zukang, Under Secretary General of the United Nations for Economic and Social Affairs,
Esteemed Delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,
By the grace of Allah, we have now come to the end of our meeting here in Jakarta to review our efforts in achieving the Millennium Development Goals in the Asia Pacific.
In the last couple of days, we have engaged in deep and thoughtfull discussions on the conditions and development related to the achievement of the MDGs in 2015 in our region, the Asia Pacific.
We should all take pleasure in observing that efforts to achieve a number of goals have indeed demonstrated immense progress.
Nonetheless, a number of other goals continue to require our outmost effort if they are to be achieved by 2015.
Esteemed delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,
At this juncture, I would like to highlight some of the issues that in the next five years will demand our collective attention if we are to achieve the MDGs in 2015.
First, the challenges of the international community are more complex than ever.
Since our last meeting in Jakarta in 2005, the international community is now facing challenges that are multi-faceted and interconnected in nature.
The world is no longer confronted by traditional issues, but more so by non-traditional ones that need to be overcome simultaneously by the international community.
As conveyed by the Vice President of Indonesia during the opening ceremony of our meeting, we are today facing the multiple challenges of economic and financial crises, energy crisis, food crisis, and the impact of climate change. These have all had negative repercussions on development efforts to achieve the MDGs.
Our challenges today are unique in character.
Our challenges are multidimensional in magnitude.
Our challenges are trans-boundary in nature and concurrent in time.
It is almost certain that no country can overcome these challenges on its own. Cooperation among countries and all stakeholders is therefore essential.
Let us join together, not only in overcoming these challenges, but also in making sure that they do not come in the way of our path towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
Second, a global effort is needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals as a whole.
We must ensure that the eight Millennium Development Goals are together achieved as one.
Not one goal of the MDGs is more important than the other.
The MDGs are a collective global target, and not only those of an individual country or a certain group of countries.
Once again, all of us must strive to achieve the entire MDGs by 2015.
We can achieve them together.
Third, our noble goal can only be achieved through sincere cooperation and partnership among all stakeholders.
Five years from now is not a long time. There is no other solution but to engage in honest partnership towards achieving the MDGs by 2015.
All of us, particularly the countries of the Asia Pacific, must maintain our strong commitment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals through our respective national development programs.
Our development partners must be fully committed to assisting developing countries in the implementation of their national development programs.
Regional and multilateral agencies must develop supporting mechanisms, as in finance and technical assistance, in the global effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
South-South Cooperation, North-South Cooperation, triangular cooperation. These mechanisms all need to be reinvigorated and become the pillars for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
In short, we must all become part of this global effort.
We must all become part of the answer.
We must all be part of the solution, and not part of the problem.
Esteemed delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The declaration that we have agreed upon is a reflection of our commitment.
It is our common will and commitment to ensure the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals for the welfare of our people.
We have every confidence that this meeting has provided valuable inputs for the High Level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals in New York next September.
In closing, the Government and people of the Republic of Indonesia express our highest appreciation to all delegations representing participating countries, international organizations, and civil societies, for making this Special Ministerial Meeting a success.
Your insights and comprehensive thoughts have all contributed immensely towards efforts in strengthening our great endeavor to achieve the noble goal of the MDGs.
We bid you all farewell and a safe journey home.
With this, and by the grace of Allah, I declare the Special Ministerial Meeting on the Review of the Millennium Development Goals in the Asia Pacific Region officially closed.
Thank you.
Assalamu’alaikum wr. Wb.