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

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.