Asian, African nations vow to stick together

Asian, African nations vow to stick together

At the conclusion of their meeting, Asian and African leaders
declared on Sunday a new partnership that binds them in wide-
ranging cooperation to cope with their problems and achieve
common goals. The partnership also heralds sustainable solidarity
among Asia and Africa nations in the wake of globalization.
Following is the full text of the declaration.

We, the Leaders of Asian and African countries, have gathered
in Jakarta, Indonesia on 22-23 April 2005 for the Asian-African
Summit to reinvigorate the Spirit of Bandung as enshrined in the
Final Communique of the 1955 Asian-African Conference and to
chart the future cooperation between our two continents towards a
New Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NAASP).

We reiterate our conviction that the Spirit of Bandung, the
core principles of which are solidarity, friendship and
cooperation, continues to be a solid, relevant and effective
foundation for fostering better relations among Asian and African
countries and resolving global issues of common concern. The 1955
Bandung Conference remains as a beacon in guiding the future
progress of Asia and Africa.

We note with satisfaction that since the 1955 Conference,
Asian and African countries have attained significant political
advances. We have successfully combated the scourge of
colonialism and consistently fought racism. In particular, the
abolishment of apartheid represents a milestone in Asian-African
cooperation and we reaffirm our continued determination to
eradicate racism and all forms of discrimination. As a result of
our efforts over the last fifty years, we are all independent,
sovereign and equal nations striving for the promotion of human
rights, democracy, and the rule of law. However, having made
these political gains, we are concerned that we have not yet
attained commensurate progress in the social and economic
spheres. We recognize the need to continuously strengthen the
process of nation and state-building, as well as social
integration.

We remain committed to the principle of self-determination as
set forth in the Final Communique of the 1955 Bandung Conference
and in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. In
particular, we express our abhorrence that, fifty years since the
1955 Bandung Conference, the Palestinian people remain deprived
of their right to independence. We remain steadfast in our
support for the Palestinian people and the creation of a viable
and sovereign Palestinian state, in accordance with relevant
United Nations resolutions.

We emphasize the importance of multilateral approaches to
international relations and the need for countries to strictly
abide by the principles of international law, in particular the
Charter of the United Nations. As Asia and Africa represent the
majority in the community of nations, we reaffirm the need to
support and strengthen multilateralism in order to address global
issues, including reforming multilateral institutions.

We recognize that the current global situation and the
prevailing conditions in Asia and Africa necessitate the need to
actively pursue a common view and collective action to ensure the
equitable sharing of the benefits of globalization. We are
determined to meet the internationally agreed targets and goals
aimed at poverty eradication, development and growth, and
underline the necessity for all parties to honor their
commitments in this regard. We emphasize the importance of
enhancing cooperation with all regions.

We underline the importance of dialogue among civilizations to
promote a culture of peace, tolerance and respect for religious,
cultural, language and racial diversities as well as gender
equality.

We acknowledge the positive development of intra-regional/sub-
regional integration in both continents. Nevertheless, continent-
wide inter-regional cooperation among the two continents needs to
be developed. We are convinced that cooperation between sub-
regional organizations, through sharing experiences and best
practices, can propel growth and sustainable development.

We underline the importance of bringing the regions closer
together by utilizing the advantages derived from the
commonalities and diversity of, as well as the new and
encouraging developments in, both regions. We emphasize both the
collective responsibilities and the important role of all
stakeholders in exploring innovative and concrete ways and means
to strengthen cooperation between Asia and Africa.

In this regard, we acknowledge the importance of complementing
and building upon existing initiatives that link the two
continents, inter alia Tokyo International Conference on African
Development (TICAD), China-Africa Cooperation Forum (CACF),
India-Africa Cooperation, Indonesia-Brunei Darussalam sponsored
Non-Aligned Movement Center for South-South Technical
Cooperation, Vietnam-Africa Business Forum, and the Smart
Partnership Initiative and the Langkawi International Dialogue.
We stress the importance of streamlining and aligning existing
initiatives for coherence and maximum benefit and to avoid
duplication.

We acknowledge the New Partnership for Africa's Development
(NEPAD) as the African Union's program for poverty eradication,
socio-economic development and growth and accept it as the
framework for engagement with Africa. We express our support for
the implementation of NEPAD.

We underscore the urgency of promoting economic development in
the Asian and African regions, as stipulated in the 1955 Bandung
Conference. We stress that poverty and under-development, gender
mainstreaming, communicable diseases, environmental degradation,
natural disasters, drought and desertification, digital divide,
inequitable market access, and foreign debt, remain as issues of
common concern which call for our closer cooperation and
collective action.

We envision an Asian-African region at peace with itself and
with the world at large working together as a concert of nations
in harmony, non-exclusive, bonded in dynamic partnership and
conscious of our historical ties and cultural heritage. We
visualize an affluent Asian-African region characterized by
equitable growth, sustainable development as well as a common
determination to enhance the quality of life and well-being of
our people. We further envisage a caring Asian-African society
where the people live in stability, prosperity, dignity and free
from the fear of violence, oppression and injustice.

To this end, we hereby declare, as an expression of our new
political will, the establishment of a New Asian-African
Strategic Partnership (NAASP) as a framework to build a bridge
between Asia and Africa covering three broad areas of
partnership, namely political solidarity, economic cooperation,
and socio-cultural relations. The strategic partnership provides
a momentum in achieving peace, prosperity and progress, and will
be based on the following principles and ideals:

1. The Ten Principles of Bandung of the 1955 Asian-African

Conference;

2. Recognition of diversity between and within the regions,

including different social and economic systems and levels of

development;

3. Commitment to open dialogue, based on mutual respect and

benefit;

4. Promotion of non-exclusive cooperation by involving all

stakeholders;

5. Attainment of practical and sustainable cooperation based on

comparative advantage, equal partnership, common ownership and

vision, as well as a firm and shared conviction to address

common challenges;

6. Promotion of sustainable partnership by complementing and

building upon existing regional/sub-regional initiatives in

Asia and Africa;

7. Promotion of a just, democratic, transparent, accountable and

harmonious society;

8. Promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental

freedoms, including the right to development;

9. Promotion of collective and unified efforts in multilateral

fora.

The NAASP shall emphasize the need to promote practical
cooperation between the two continents in areas such as trade,
industry, investment, finance, tourism, information and
communication technology, energy, health, transportation,
agriculture, water resources and fisheries.

The NAASP shall also address issues of common concern such as,
armed conflict, weapons of mass destruction, transnational
organized crimes and terrorism, which are fundamental to ensuring
peace, stability, and security.

We are determined to prevent conflict and resolve disputes by
peaceful means and endeavor to explore innovative mechanisms for
confidence building and dispute resolution as well as for post-
conflict peace-building.

The NAASP shall promote human resource development, enhanced
capacity building and technical cooperation in order to create an
enabling environment for the betterment of the regions.

We resolve that the sustainability of the NAASP shall be
conducted through three tiers of interaction: an
intergovernmental forum; sub-regional organizations; and people-
to-people interaction, particularly business, academia, and civil
society.

We are determined to develop an institutionalized process of
the NAASP through convening: a Summit of Heads of
State/Government every four years; a Ministerial Meeting of
Foreign Ministers every two years; and Sectoral Ministerial and
other Technical Meetings when deemed necessary. A Business Summit
in conjunction with the Summit of Heads of State/Government will
be held every four years.

We pledge to our peoples our joint determination and
commitment to bringing the NAASP into reality by implementing
concrete actions for the benefit and prosperity of our peoples.

Done in Bandung, Indonesia, on the Twenty-fourth of April in
the year Two Thousand and Five, in conjunction with the
Commemoration of the Golden Jubilee of the Asian-African
Conference of 1955.