SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS BEING CONSIDERED FOR POST-2015 MDGs by Fardah

         Jakarta, June 25, 2012 (ANTARA) - As the 2015 deadline for the current Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approaches, the United Nations (UN) is gearing up for higher targets for the next 20 years by appointing a small high-level team to handle the task.

        UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has asked Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, British Prime Minister David Cameron, and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to co-chair a team called "High Level Panel of Eminent Persons" to work on the post-2015 MDG framework.

 
   "After the Rio Conference, I will appoint a High-level Panel of Eminent Persons to advise on post-2015 MDGs. Today, I am pleased to announce that the following leaders have accepted my invitation to serve as co-chairs of this high-level panel:  His Excellency President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia; Her Excellency President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia; and His Excellency Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom," Ban Ki-moon said in New York on May 9, 2012, during an informal meeting of the UN General Assembly.

          The Indonesian head of state expressed his appreciation to the UN Secretary General for trusting him to co-chair the team.

         "Looking ahead, we need a strong vision to mobilise the world community and carry us forward. This is a critical time, as we are heading towards the end of the current MDG time frame. The Kyoto Protocol also expires this year. It is critical that we maintain the continuity of our global visions to ensure our sustainable future," President Yudhoyono said in his speech before participants of the Indonesian Conference on "Moving Towards Sustainability: Together We Must Create The Future We Want" in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 20, coinciding with the Rio+20 Conference.

          Yudhoyono added that the world must come up with a post-2015 MDG agenda that is more ambitious, comprehensive, and in tune with the changing global landscape.

          He emphasised the concept of "sustainable growth with equity¿ for the next MDG framework, which might be called "Sustainable Development Goals" (SDGs) by 2035.

          "A different name might be agreed upon by UN members, but our main concern is achieving sustainable development with equity, where environmental preservation is the main goal," he told the press on his way from Brazil to Ecuador.

        Last week, President Yudhoyono and Ban Ki-moon met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, to discuss cooperation in post-2015 MDGs.

          After meeting with Ban Ki-moon, President Yudhoyono held a meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron to discuss bilateral relations between Indonesia and Britain.

         The two leaders also talked about their common views on tasks for post-MDGs, which were mandated by the UN Secretary General.

         Together, they will begin a process to build a new international framework for development which will become operational after the current MDGs expire in 2015.

        Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said the President was expected to offer recommendations to the UN Secretary General on dealing with poverty, hunger and diseases in less privileged countries by April next year.

         Yudhoyono and other world leaders attended the Rio+20 Conference in Rio de Janeiro on June 20-22 to reaffirm their commitment to the MDG framework.

         Speaking to the press in Rio de Janeiro, Yudhoyono said more than half the countries in the world were likely to fail to achieve the 2015 MDGs.

         "The MDGs were based on the Rio Conference in 1992 and not all targets have been achieved in these past 20 years. We don't want to blame anybody or who is responsible at the global level," the head of state said.

        "By 2015, Indonesia will achieve certain goals and even exceed some of the targets, however, we have to work harder to achieve other goals," he added.

         "Our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 have also faced uphill battles. There has been some progress, but there were some setbacks and challenges as well. For example, we made progress on infant and maternal mortality, poverty, and life expectancy, but we are not on track as yet to reach the MDGs targets with regard to improved nutrition for children, sanitation in rural areas, gender mainstreaming, and urban poor. Despite all this, I remain optimistic that we can ensure a future of sustainability," Yudhoyono noted.

         The eight MDGs aim to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development.

        Of the eight goals, Indonesia's achievement in poverty eradication is 12.36% (the 2015 target is 7.5%); primary education for all is 94.76% (the target is 100%); gender equality and women's empowerment 49.8% (the target is 50%). The country's child mortality rate is 44 per 1,000 live births, while the target is 32 per 1,000 live births. 
    Earlier in May, Nila Moeloek, the Indonesian special envoy on MDGs, expressed her optimism that Indonesia would be able to meet the fifth MDG target despite having a high maternal mortality ratio.   
    The fifth MDG target is to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters by 2015.

         "Although Indonesia's maternal mortality ratio  is the highest in Southeast Asia, we are optimistic that the MDGs' fifth target will be achieved because many people are currently working on the reproduction-related problems of various communities," Moeloek said at a seminar themed "Beyond MDGs: Indonesia's Role as Middle Income Country on HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights" in Jakarta.

         On a separate occasion in the same month, Indonesian Vice President Boediono expressed his optimism in Surabaya, East Java, that Indonesia's targets for MDGs would be reached in 2015.

        "Judging from the role of the Family Welfare Movement (PKK)'s cadres and the Indonesians' spirit of mutual cooperation, I am sure that the MDGs target can be met as scheduled," he stated.

        As of mid-2012, the country has yet to address three issues: reducing the maternal and infant mortality rates at the time of birth; prevention of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; and providing sufficient access to drinking water and basic sanitation, Boediono noted.

         He urged the Indonesian people and the private sector to support the government in its efforts to achieve the MDGs.

        As for the post-2015 MDGs, President Yudhoyono said the next framework of cooperation should be based on an objective evaluation of the implementation of MDGs.

        "The Sustainable Development Goals to be issued in 2015 should fully assess the MDGs. And it's important to have an objective evaluation of why some goals were missed," he stated.

        "So, years later, when using the same time line, the SDGs, or whatever it's named later, should be achieved better than the present MDGs," President Yudhoyono explained. ***3***
(F001/INE/A/S012)