Seven governors to jointly discuss UN millennium goals

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.