Let me begin by
congratulating His Excellency Ambassador John
Ashe on his election to the presidency of the General
Assembly at its sixty-eighth session. May I also take
this opportunity to commend His Excellency Mr. Vuk
Jeremi. for his skilful stewardship of the sixty-seventh
session. Our profound appreciation of course also goes
to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his inspirational
leadership of the Organization.
The theme of this session — “The post-2015
development agenda: setting the stage” — is timely
and well-chosen, for we are now making the final push
towards the fulfilment of the Millennium Development
Goals by the 2015 deadline. Simultaneously, work has
begun on framing the post-2015 global development
agenda to end extreme poverty and ensure sustainable
growth with equity. That agenda must be anchored
by a new global partnership — a vision reflected
in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s role as
one of the three co-Chairs of the High-level Panel
of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development
Agenda and recognition of the fact that the success of
the forthcoming intergovernmental process requires
the capacity to forge a global consensus to identify and
build upon common interests.
Indonesia has an enduring belief in the efficacy
and effectiveness of diplomacy, maintaining peace
and security, advancing social progress and economic
prosperity and promoting democracy, human rights and
tolerance.
The conflict in Syria has long demanded such
a political and diplomatic solution, for amid the
undoubted complexity of the situation three key
points are compelling, namely, halting the violence,
facilitating humanitarian relief and beginning an
inclusive political process that reflects the wishes of
the Syrian people. The recent breakthrough on the
issue of chemical weapons in Syria is clear evidence
that diplomacy works. Further diplomatic momentum
must be generated. The Security Council must be one to
forcefully make the case for a peaceful settlement. To
get the parties to the negotiating table, the “Geneva II”
conference must be convened at the earliest opportunity.
On the issue of Palestine, the full weight of
diplomatic pressure must similarly be brought to
bear and resolutions of the General Assembly and the
Security Council implemented. The historic injustice
that the Palestinian people have suffered for so long
must be ended. We are encouraged by and welcome,
therefore, the resumption of direct negotiations between
Palestine and Israel, the result, no less, of painstaking
and relentless diplomatic efforts. The revival of the
long-stalled nuclear disarmament agenda is also
key. In particular, as co-President of the Article XIV
Conference on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban
Treaty, Indonesia calls for the early entry into force of
the Treaty.
The same relentless diplomatic pursuit must be
applied to what is manifestly in the common interests
of all, that is, the eradication of poverty, the promotion
of sustainable development and inclusive financing and
overcoming the challenges of climate change. We have
in ourselves the wherewithal to address the development
challenges of our time — for example, to work for an
early conclusion of the Doha development agenda and a
new climate-change regime by 2015.
Key to that, however, must be a strong commitment
to the spirit of partnership and an unshakeable belief
in the power of multilateralism: cooperation and
collaboration rather than discord and division. The
development agenda must work for all countries, large
or small, developed and developing. Each of us must
share responsibility. Developed countries must take the
lead, while developing countries must do more.
The pursuit of a diplomatic path becomes fraught
with challenges in a complex and fast-changing world
where the issues of governance, human rights violations,
extremism and intolerance within countries can
quickly gain inter-State dimensions. We must ensure
that the institutions of the United Nations are ready to
address such contemporary challenges. Therefore, as
countries embark upon a process of democratization
and the promotion and protection of human rights, as
they draw a line against intolerance and extremism,
the international community, the United Nations,
must contribute towards ensuring an atmosphere that
is conducive to their peaceful transformation, one that
reflects the wishes of the peoples concerned.
Together with its partners in the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia is
steadily developing a regional architecture conducive
to the peaceful promotion of human rights and
democracy. It is called the ASEAN Political-Security
Community. Together with the economic community
and sociocultural community pillars, it makes up the
ASEAN Community that we are to achieve by 2015.
Through a process of sharing lessons learned derived
from our respective successes and setbacks, we provide
mutual encouragement and support in our promotion
of the principles of democracy, the rule of law and
good governance, and respect for and the promotion of
human rights and fundamental freedoms as inscribed
in the ASEAN Charter.
Beyond South-East Asia, Indonesia is pursuing
the same positive and constructive approach through
what is called the Bali Democracy Forum, a platform
for countries in the wider region to shareone anothers’
experiences. At all levels — national, regional and
global — we remain steadfast in promoting tolerance
and religious freedom, pushing back against prejudice
and intolerance and building partnerships, harmony
and mutual respect. Indonesia recognizes, therefore, the
special responsibility incumbent upon it as host of the
United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Global Forum
in 2014, one that aims to promote unity in diversity.
The primacy of diplomacy and of the peaceful
settlement of disputes over war and conflict is not
more evident than in the quiet and yet fundamental
transformations that have been taking place in
our region, South-East Asia. Notwithstanding the
continuing challenges, Indonesia believes that the
dividends of peace and stability are self-evident:
economic and social progress.
The continued stability and security of the region
is therefore the key to securing our prosperity. Peace
and development are indivisible. With other ASEAN
nations, Indonesia has worked constantly to develop
the region’s capacity to manage and overcome any
potential for conflict and to ensure that it remains a
net contributor to international peace and security; to
extend the arc of stability beyond South-East Asia to the
Asia-Pacific region at large while promoting common
security, common prosperity and common stability
for all in the region; and, through commitments to the
peaceful settlement of disputes and the renunciation
of the use or threat of force, to ensure that the region
places diplomacy at the forefront.
Indonesia will be tireless in promoting the primacy
of diplomacy, and unwavering in its belief in the noble
goals of the United Nations.