Jakarta Declaration on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Asia and the Pacific: The Way Forward 2015

Sat, 06 Aug 2005, 00:00 WIB | Source: JP

Jakarta, 5 August 2005

1. We, the Ministers and representatives from countries of Asia
and the Pacific, gathered in Jakarta, Indonesia from 3 - 5 August
2005 to attend the Regional Ministerial Meeting on the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs): the Way Forward to 2015, in which
representatives of relevant international and civil society
organizations also took part.
2. We reinvigorate our commitment to the achievement of the MDGs,
as an important element of an integrated and coherent approach to
development, by 2015. We recognize the urgent needs for Asia and
the Pacific to undertake collective actions, considering that
five years have passed since the MDGs were launched and much
remains to be done for the next ten years.
3. We reaffirm the solidarity amongst the countries in Asia and
the Pacific region and recognize the critical importance of the
regional and global partnership and cooperation in the
achievement of the MDGs, including to assist those having
difficulties in achieving the MDGs.
4. We reaffirm the role of South-South cooperation, including
through triangular cooperation, in the overall context of
regional partnership in achieving the MDGs.
5. We recognize that Asia and the Pacific region contains two-
thirds of the over one billion world's poor and therefore, strong
political will as well as bold and decisive action are needed for
achieving sustainable development and eradicating poverty.
6. We commit to make poverty reduction the overarching objective
of developmental partnership and cooperation in the Asia and the
Pacific.
7. We recognize that each country must take primary
responsibility for development and for achieving MDGs nationally,
a process facilitated by greater involvement of relevant
stakeholders wherever necessary. In this regard we urge the
strengthening of partnership between all these stakeholders.
8. We recognize that conducive global programs, measures,
policies and financial architecture and trading system aimed at
maximizing the development opportunities for developing countries
are essential for the success of national efforts for development
and achieving MDGs. In this context, creating conducive
environment for private sector to play its supplementary role in
enhancing flows of funds, technology and entrepreneurship to
developing countries should be promoted.
9. We acknowledge the uniqueness of the diversity, and dynamics
between the subregions of Asia and the Pacific. Although progress
to date on some goals of the MDGs has been made, it has been
uneven.
10. We recognize that fora such as ASEAN, Pacific Island Forum,
SAARC, and other regional initiatives should be used as platforms
for enhanced regional cooperation and invite them to work closely
with the United Nations system and regional development agencies,
including the Asian Development Bank and other International
Financial Institutions to ensure synergies in programs to support
the achievement of the MDGs.
11. We are encouraged to learn of the pioneering step taken by
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to prepare an
ASEAN Millennium Development Compact which will catalyze many
inter-country initiatives to plan for effective collective action
at all levels in achieving the MDGs.
12. We acknowledge the special needs and vulnerabilities of Asia
Pacific Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing
Countries, and Small Island Developing States, in their effort to
achieve the MDGs, and call upon all development partners to give
more attention in assisting these countries to address unique
challenges. To this end the effective implementation of Brussels
and Almaty Programme of Action, Declaration, and the Mauritius
Strategy is vital. In this context, promotion of greater
international cooperation including the mobilization of financial
resources on a more predictable basis is crucial.
13. We acknowledge that the special characteristic of the Pacific
Island region incurs significant transaction costs and place
practical constraints on the prospect for achieving the MDGs. We
seek to reaffirm the need for a specific focus on synergies and
interrelationship between aid, trade and investment, debt relief
and good governance, including in the coordination and the
effective use of aid.
14. We emphasize the importance of the High-Level Plenary Meeting
of the 60th session of the United Nations General Assembly in
comprehensively reviewing the implementation of the Millennium
Declaration, in particular on development cooperation. We wish to
set some key actions to expedite the achievement of the MDGs in
Asia and the Pacific.
15. We recognize that regional partnership and regional
cooperation in the field of trade, investment, capacity building,
and technology support, and infrastructure development, such as
transport, and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
and promotion of environmental sustainability are crucial in
addressing the specifics concerns of countries with special needs
in meeting the MDGs.
16. We take into account the need for national policy space for
developing countries to apply appropriate policy instrument in
their implementation of national development plans and
priorities. We therefore recognize that regional dialogue can
help forge a stronger consensus in this important area.
17. We emphasize the adverse impact on development of pandemics,
such as HIV/AIDS, and other communicable diseases, particularly
the significant economic and social costs and thus slow down the
rate reduction of poverty. Of paramount importance are improving
health services as well as developing regional initiatives to
address the prevailing and rapid growth of HIV/AIDS, malaria,
tuberculosis, avian flu, SARS and other communicable diseases.
18. We recognize that poverty, hunger and malnutrition are the
main causes of child and maternal mortality and call for enhanced
regional partnership and cooperation to support national effort
in addressing these problems on a priority basis.
19. We emphasize the urgent need to promote understanding of the
linkages between poverty and the environment and, where
appropriate, promote regional cooperation to assist Governments,
upon their request, to mainstream environmental dimension in the
poverty eradication strategies.
20. We believe that promoting environmental sustainability,
within the framework of sustainable development, is crucial for
Asia and the Pacific region. Environmental sustainability should
be integrated in the regional cooperation strategies aimed at
achieving the MDGs.
21. We stress the need to ensure that relevant Multilateral
Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and the MDGs are mutually
supportive and reinforcing.
22. We believe that strengthening capacity of developing
countries in Asia and the Pacific for the implementation of
sustainable development, including through utilization of the
Bali Strategic Plan for Technology Support and Capacity Building
of the United Nations Environment Programmes is crucial in
promoting environmental sustainability in the context of the
MDGs.
23. We recognize the high susceptibility of the region to natural
disasters that can reverse the progress in the achievement of the
MDGs and therefore reiterate the need for the region to enhance
their cooperation to establish multi modal early warning systems
for natural hazards, which are fully integrated with local
communities and allow for effective quick responses to such
hazards including on rehabilitation and recovery. We therefore
call for the various entities of the United Nations system that
have initiated work in this regard to continue with their
efforts.
24. We reaffirm the vital importance of an effective multilateral
system, including a stronger United Nations, in order to better
address the challenges associated with achieving MDGs.
25. We reaffirm the importance of enhancing cooperation in the
region in fostering greater coherence between the multilateral
development agencies and the multilateral financial and trading
systems to ensuring the availability of resources to accomplish
MDGs.
26. We recognize the importance of trade as an engine of growth
and development, and emphasize the need for further work in the
region to promote an open, rules-based, predictable, non-
discriminatory multilateral trading system, including through
achieving the development objective of the Doha Round. We also
recognize the need to facilitate an early accession of developing
countries in the region to the WTO.
27. We reiterate our commitment to conclude the Doha Development
Agenda negotiations in 2006 in such a way that fulfill the high
ambition including on the development dimension as sets out in
the Doha Ministerial Declaration. In this context a successful
outcome of the WTO VI Ministerial Meeting in December 2005 in
Hong Kong, China, is crucial.
28. We reaffirm that products originating from LDCs should be
accorded duty free and quota free access to markets of developed
countries and developing countries in position to do so.
29. We reaffirm our commitment to strengthen South-South trade
including through the Global System of Trade Preferences among
Developing Countries (GSTP), which offers another major avenue
for South-South development solidarity and contribution of trade
to the achievement of MDGs.
30. We recognize that the continuing high oil prices pose a major
economic challenge to many developing countries in reaching MDGs
targets. This issue need to be address in a multi faceted manner
including support for the development of alternative energy
sources, promoting efficiency in energy sector and sustainability
of supply.
31. We recognize the important relation between international
migration and development and the need to deal with the issue,
including at the regional level, in a coordinated and coherent
manner with a view to addressing the opportunities and challenges
and harness its positive effects on development.
32. We reiterate the importance of integrating gender equality
and justice as the crucial components of MDGs leading to human-
centered sustainable development which will facilitate and
enhance sustained and constructive global partnership in all
fields of life and at all levels of society.
33. We reiterate our commitment to enhancing good governance, the
rule of law and combating corruption, at all levels, and
underline these as essential for sustained economic growth,
sustainable development and eradication of poverty and hunger. We
also recognize the importance of promoting stability and
security. We call for regional cooperation leading to capacity
enhancement in these areas.
34. We encourage the scaling up of the achievement of the MDGs in
Asia and the Pacific region by initiating national "quick win",
in accordance with national development strategies.
35. We recognize the need to manage ODA effectively in donor and
recipient countries. We call on the implementation on the
provision of ODA that take into account the national development
priorities of developing countries and meet ODA commitments in
support of pro-poor and poverty reduction policies. We reiterate
the importance of achieving the commitments contained in the
Monterey Consensus with regard to ODA. We call on the
implementation of this commitment, taking into account the
national development priorities of developing countries. We also
welcome recent efforts and initiatives to enhance the quality of
aid and to increase its impact.
36. We stress that in assessing debt sustainability criteria,
consideration be given to allowing a country to achieve its
national development goals, including the MDGs in 2015, without
an increase in its debt ratios.
37. We call for the further elaboration of innovative financing
mechanism for development, including public-private partnership
for increased investments targeted at development, debt swap for
MDGs, and micro-finance scheme.
38. We recognize the need to prioritize affordable and
environmentally sustainable infrastructure that targets the needs
of the poor.
39. We call upon the United Nations system to ensure
comprehensive and coherent programs of support for countries in
Asia and the Pacific in their efforts to attain the MDGs, with
particular reference to the implementation of the present Jakarta
Declaration and to play a key role in promoting policy dialogue
and in facilitating the exchange of best practices, particularly
through South-South cooperation, among countries of the Asian and
Pacific region.
40. We recognize the New Asia-African Strategic Partnership
adopted by the Asian and African Heads of States/Governments in
the Asian African Summit 2005 could play an important role in
enhancing solidarity and inter regional development cooperation.
41. We welcome the partnership between the United Nations
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(UNESCAP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and
the Asian Development Bank (ADB), that has resulted in a joint
regional assessment of progress by Asia and Pacific countries in
achieving the MDGs, and call for further joint regional analyses
in key MDG areas to support national policy formulation
processes. We urge these organizations to play an active role in
mobilizing resources, and technology for the region to achieve
MDGs. We call upon the UNDP and the United Nations Millennium
Project to support operationalizing of the achievement of MDGs by
assisting Governments in sectoral investment needs assessments
leading to costing and financing plans.
42. We request the Government of Indonesia, as host of the
present Regional Ministerial Meeting, to transmit the outcome of
the Meeting to the High Level Plenary Meeting of the 60th session
of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September
2005.
43. We call upon the United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific, at its 62nd session in April
2006 to be hosted by the Government of Indonesia in Jakarta, to
include an item in its provisional agenda on modalities for
regional implementation of the present Declaration, including the
formulation of an action plan which will serve as a road map to
move forward to 2015.

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