at the

OPENING CEREMONY OF THE

TRAINING PROGRAM FOR STRENGTHENING OF FACILITATORS’S SKILLS

OF DEVELOPMENT-RELATED PROGRAMS FOR

POVERTY ALLEVIATION OF ASEAN COUNTRIES

11 June 2001, Jakarta

Your Excellency, Dra. Khofifah Indar Parawansa

State Minister for Women Empowerment, and

Chairperson of the National Family Planning Board of Indonesia (BKKBN);

Your Excellencies,  ASEAN Ambassadors and

Representatives of ASEAN Embassies in Jakarta;

Honorable Dr. Sridadi Suparto

Deputy for Training and Program Development of BKKBN;

Honorable Drs. Masri Muadz, M.Sc.

Director, Center  for International Training and Collaboration of BKKBN;

Distinguished Delegates from ASEAN Member Countries and

Participants of the Training Program;  and

Ladies and Gentlemen.

A  VERY GOOD MORNING.

It is indeed a great pleasure and honour for me to be invited to give this remarks on behalf of the ASEAN Secretariat at this auspicious occasion.  I would like to express our sincere thanks to the National Family Planning Coordinating Board of Indonesia for that.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

2.                  This Training Program will serve to accelerate the existing pace of ASEAN cooperation in rural development and poverty alleviation, in line with the current economic situation confronting the region.   The Program has had a rather long gestation period.  The idea on this training of facilitators of rural development and poverty eradication was first conceived by the ASEAN Experts Group Meeting on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication, held in December 1997 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.  It is one of the priority projects of ASEAN to implement and realize the Framework for the ASEAN Plan of Action on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication, which was adopted by the ASEAN Ministers on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication at their Inaugural Meeting in October 1997.

3.                  At the Sixth ASEAN Summit, held in December 1998 in Hanoi,  ASEAN Leaders made a call for a strengthened regional cooperation to mitigate the social impact of the financial and economic crisis, and to undertake measures to protect the poor and vulnerable segments of our society that were and are most affected by the crisis.   Following this, the ASEAN Ministers on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication, at their Second Meeting in February 2000 in Manila, emphasized the importance of social safety nets and other measures in promoting social resilience and cohesion in ASEAN countries, thus contributing towards realizing the ASEAN Leaders’ vision of community of caring societies.  In the context of sustainable rural development in the region, the Ministers also agreed that poverty eradication efforts should not be addressed in isolation, but need to involve other sectors as well.  They also agreed that there was a need to look ahead into the longer-term impact of globalization on the poor and the marginalized and to consider further discussions on ways to promote meaningful participation of the poor and the marginalized in the new global economy through the improvement of access to social services, in particular, and also by improving access to information technology and modern telecommunications, including the Internet, in general.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

4.                  Measures to address the adverse impacts of the economic crisis on the social sector in ASEAN countries, as well as to protect the most vulnerable segments of our societies, are spelled out in the ASEAN Action Plan on Social Safety-Nets, which was adopted by the Second Senior Officials Meeting on Social Development and Poverty Eradication (SOM-RDPE), held in October 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, and subsequently by the ASEAN Ministers on Social Development and Poverty Eradication at their First Informal Meeting in December 1998 in Jakarta.

5.                  In order to operationalize the Action Plan on Social Safety Nets, the ASEAN Secretariat sought funding assistance from international donor agencies and the ASEAN Dialogue Partner countries in 1999.   In July the same year, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the ASEAN Secretariat signed a program document on “Support to Monitor and facilitate ASEAN Economic Recovery”.  Following this, the UNDP confirmed its funding support for two projects on social safety-nets, namely:

i.        Harmonization of the Social Impact Assessment Mechanisms in Member Countries through Comparative Analysis of Existing Mechanisms and Practices;  and

ii.       Recommended Alternative Strategies for ASEAN Member Countries in Designing and Implementing Effective Social Safety-Net Programs.

6.                  This second UNDP-funded project has some similarities with this Training Program for Strengthening of Facilitators’ Skills of Development-Related Programs for Poverty Alleviation of ASEAN Countries proposed by Indonesia. Therefore, the Second Meeting of the ASEAN Task Force on Social Safety-Nets, held in August 2000 in Jakarta, decided that the two projects be integrated.   In consultation with other ASEAN Member Countries, Indonesia and the ASEAN Secretariat jointly developed the integration of the two projects, taking into account their common elements.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

7.         In the efforts to address the social impact of the economic crisis, ASEAN recognizes the importance of the longer-term permanent approach towards meeting social safety needs of the ASEAN people in the broader context of rural development and poverty eradication.  Thus, this Training Program is expected to provide an opportunity for the participants, in particular, and ASEAN member Countries, in general, to share and explore appropriate policy thrusts and strategies for rural development and poverty eradication, including elements of social safety-net programs.

8.                  With that note, the ASEAN Secretariat, on behalf of ASEAN Member Countries, would like to thank the National Family Planning Coordinating Board of Indonesia, (BKKBN),  for kindly hosting this Training Program.   Also, I would like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere appreciation to the UNDP for its generous assistance to help ASEAN in developing a sub-program on responses to the social impact of the financial and economic crisis besetting this region.

9.                  In closing my remarks, I would like to wish  the participants every success and I hope that your stay in Jakarta and Yogyakarta will be productive as well as enjoyable.

Thank you.