Canada donates $70,000 for Bali meeting

Canada donates $70,000 for Bali meeting

JAKARTA: The Canadian Embassy here donated US$70,000 for the
4th Preparatory Committee Meeting for the World Summit on
Sustainable Development, to be held in Bali from May 27 to June
7.

Canadian Ambassador Ferry de Kerckhove said here on Tuesday
that it was traditional for his country to support
multilateralism and the involvement of civil society in
international discussions on sustainable development.

"Canada was one of the countries that promoted the inclusion
of non-governmental organizations, youth, private sector and
indigenous people in the United Nations Conference on Development
and the Environment in Rio de Janeiro in 1992," he said.

The $70,000 assistance, provided by the Canadian International
Development Agency, will be used to finance the 4th Prep-Com
Meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali.

The UN assigned Indonesia to host the preparatory committee
meeting before the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which
will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from Aug. 26 to Sept.
4.

The Indonesian government and the United Nations Development
Program, which sponsors the event, have so far received
commitments for financial assistance totaling to $2,737,500 from
a number of donors, including Australia, Canada, the European
Union, Finland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and
Britain. -- Antara