Seven governors to jointly discuss UN millennium goals
Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Governors from seven provinces in Indonesia, mostly from the eastern part of the country, are invited to share their experiences at the Asia Pacific ministerial meeting on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the Jakarta Convention Center this week.
Five of them -- the governors of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, North Maluku, Maluku, West and East Nusa Tenggara -- have confirmed their participation in the three-day meeting beginning on Thursday, said Ngurah Swajaya, the foreign ministry's acting director for United Nations' Economic, Development and Environmental Affairs. The remaining two -- Central Sulawesi and Papua -- have yet to confirm.
"We want to create an awareness among governors (about MDG issues), because some of them may not have heard about MDGs. We hope they will also share their experiences in the discussion about their work to accomplish the MDGs and make use of this opportunity to build a network. In the long term, we hope they can develop their own MDGs targets," Swajaya told a media briefing on Tuesday.
Raj Kumar, principal officer at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP), said in the briefing that the "localization" of MDGs at the provincial level should be done with caution.
"Localization of MDGs is not very good. It is difficult to monitor the implementation, and the provinces have to improve the statistics of their own regions. There is also the problem of resources -- some regions have more resources than others therefore the achievement of MDGs will not be at the same pace," he said.
Erna Witoelar, the UN Special Ambassador for the Millennium Development Goals in the Asia Pacific, said that the success of the MDGs, particularly for Indonesia, would depend much on the implementation of MDGs at the grassroots level.
The regional meeting will discuss the strategies for cooperation to achieve the MDGs, particularly for Asia-Pacific countries. This is the first time such a meeting is being held, a few months before the MDGs' achievement will be reviewed.
At the end of the meeting on Friday, the participants will issue the Jakarta declaration outlining a road map to accomplish eight targets of the MDGs in 10 years (2005-2015). The MDGs, which were declared by 189 UN member states in 1999, targets poverty eradication and living standards improvement by 2015.
Indonesia has proposed a "Regional Compact" -- Asia-Pacific cooperation involving wealthy nations in the region like Japan.
Swajaya said that the United Kingdom, as the current EU president and head of the Group of Eight developed nations, had expressed interest in the outcome of the meeting. "Let us see what sort of initiatives they will offer," he said.
In early July, the G-8 agreed to wipe out US$41 million of debt of 18 impoverished countries in Africa, and increase the aid two fold to $50 billion a year by 2010.
The Indonesian government will not ask for similar treatment as it may affect its credit rating. But Asia Pacific nations convening this week will likely ask for greater access to trade.
The Jakarta declaration will be brought to the discussion at the high-level plenary meeting at the 50th UN General Assembly Summit in New York in September.
Forty countries have agreed to join the meeting, 15 of which are led by ministerial-level officials.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to open the regional meeting on Wednesday. On the same day, the UN ESCAP and UNDP will launch the Regional Least Developed Countries Report on MDGs. The report identifies a number of LDCs in the Asia Pacific and areas of cooperation.
Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, UN Millenium Project's director and special advisor to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on MDGs, will deliver a keynote speech on Thursday.