Indonesian delegation hails Istanbul declaration<\/p>\n
By T. Sima Gunawan<\/p>\n
ISTANBUL, Turkey (JP): Indonesia welcomed over the weekend the
\nIstanbul Declaration and the Habitat Agenda for the improvement
\nof human living conditions.<\/p>\n
"There are many things we can learn from them," Soemadi
\nBrodjodiningrat, a member of Indonesian delegation, told
\nreporters Saturday.<\/p>\n
Good governance is one of the issues Indonesia needs to
\nseriously address, he said.<\/p>\n
The Declaration said that in the implementation of the Agenda,
\nthe governments must promote, within the legal framework of each
\ncountry, decentralization through democratic local authorities,
\nand ensure transparency, accountability and responsiveness to the
\nneeds of people.<\/p>\n
Brodjodiningrat, Director General of Foreign Economic
\nRelations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Indonesia
\nagreed to the principles of a good governance as discussed in the
\nconference.<\/p>\n
"What we object to is any attempt to interpret good governance
\nas a particular system of government, like the American
\ndemocracy," he said.<\/p>\n
The conference, which started on June 3, was attended by
\n10,700 participants from 171 countries and almost 20 heads of
\nstates or governments. According to the participation list,
\nIndonesia had the second largest delegation with 82 people, after
\nTurkey.<\/p>\n
Indonesia adopted without any reservation the Istanbul
\nDeclaration and the Habitat Agenda at the end of the second UN
\nConference on Human Settlements (Habitat) last weekend.<\/p>\n
The Habitat Agenda is a Global Plan of Action which will serve
\nas a guideline in the drafting of policies for sustainable human
\nsettlements.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has long put human settlements on top of its
\nnational policy, Brodjodiningrat said. He referred to the
\nsandang, pangan, papan (clothes, food and housing) as the three
\nbasic needs on the country's priority list of economic
\ndevelopment.<\/p>\n
For the first time at a UN conference, Habitat II allowed
\nlocal authorities, NGOs, parliamentarians, academicians and
\nresearchers to take part. Even though the Conference did not
\nadopt their recommendations, they agreed to take them as an annex
\nto the Habitat Agenda.<\/p>\n
Brodjodiningrat said that the annex could be a helpful
\nreference for the governments in the drafting of their policies,
\neven though it is not binding.<\/p>\n
"It's good that the conference gave room to them to raise
\ntheir ideas and involve them formally and structurally as a
\npartner," he said.<\/p>\n
Editorial -- Page 4<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesian-delegation-hails-istanbul-declaration-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }