Addresses delivered in the general policy debate by the Head of Delegation at the General Conference

37 session of the General Conference - Leaders Forum

Mr Nuh, Minister of Education and Culture, Indonesia

Speech delivered during the General Policy Debate of the 37th session of the General Conference - revised and corrected version of the verbatim records of plenary meetings

36 session of the General Conference - 10th anniversary of the Declaration on Cultural Diversity

His Excellency Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of the Republic of Indonesia

Keynote Address at the Celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Declaration on Cultural Diversity held during the 36th session of the General Conference (posted as received)

36 session of the General Conference

H.E. Mr Muhammad Nuh, Minister of Education and Culture

Speech delivered during the General Policy Debate of the 36th session of the General Conference and posted as received

35 session of the General Conference

H.E. Prof. Dr Fasli Jalal, Vice-Minister of National Education

“(…) I would like to express the Indonesian government’s profound appreciation to Mr Matsuura (…). The Indonesian government also would like to congratulate Madame Irina Bokova for her election as the new Director General of UNESCO (…).”
“Indonesia emphasizes the importance of basic education as a fundamental human right as we have declared in the Jakarta Declaration.”
“The government of Indonesia is strongly committed to achieving universal basic education for all and has set a strong legal framework through our Constitution in assuring priority funding for education. Despite the world economic crisis, Indonesia maintains the high priority of educational budget and keeps increasing the funding allocation to further improve education at all levels. Given the sheer size of our country and the wide spectrum of diversity, covering 3 time zones with close to 240 million people living in thousands of islands and speaking not less than 700 languages and dialects, breakthrough programs have been developed to provide an inclusive education for all. Those programmes include the use of ICT to reach remote places, free e-books for all students (…). Through strong commitment and those continuous efforts, Indonesia is on the right track in most of the Education for All indicators.”
“The new law on teachers and lecturers has significantly improved the profession (…).”
“Even though the effort to sustain the planet is a steep climb, Indonesia’s commitment to sustainable development is unwavering. (…) Given its unique geographical location and geological condition, Indonesia is vulnerable to natural disasters. To manage and reduce the impact of natural disasters, we have played an active role in establishing the Indian Ocean Tsunami Early Warning System. Indonesia has also established a national framework for disaster mitigation in line with Hyogo Framework for Disaster Reduction.”
“Blessed with rich biodiversity which is also reflected in our cultural diversity as well as religious plurality, Indonesia has many cultural heritages that we conserve, revitalize and maintain (…). Indonesia very much appreciates UNESCO’s efforts to protect cultural heritage and adopted the Convention for the Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003 (…). We would like to thank UNESCO and the Committee which who have inscribed “Batik Indonesia” as one of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, after “Indonesian Keris” and “Wayang Puppet Theater” as Master Pieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.”
“We do hope to see UNESCO programmes to be more holistic and integrated at country level in providing assistance to its members states in the implementation of the adopted recommendations of UNESCO Conferences.”

34 session of the General Conference

H.E. Dr Bambang Sudibyo, Minister of National Education

Indonesia congratulates the rejoining of Singapore as a UNESCO Member State and the arrival of Montenegro.
In the establishment of peace, education will play the key role to develop an understanding among cultures and religions.
Indonesia trusts on its solid and endurable national philosophy, Pancasila, that teaches traditional and democratic values, tolerance and understanding. This philosophy greatly helped in the peaceful and successful general elections in 2004.
Indonesia suffered from several natural and man-induced crises that seriously challenged the country’s economic and social growth. An important effort is needed to recover from various natural disasters and monetary crushes. Indonesia would like to thank UNESCO and global communities for their quick response and commitment.
Indonesia believes that education is a key to eradicate poverty and to promote durable peace. The Indonesian Government has hosted The International Conference on the Right to Basic Education, and has expanded education budget almost threefold. The country now scores a good progress in the achievement of Education for All goals. There has been a very significant increase in access and coverage of early childhood education services, reaching 47% by the end of 2006 from 18% only in the year 2000.
“Indonesia has already met the EFA goals for gender equality in all levels of education, except in senior secondary vocational education. We have made a good progress in meeting literacy and life-skills targets. In illiteracy eradication, Indonesia firmly believes that the Dakar target can be achieved by 2009, based on the impressive average illiterate eradication rate of 1.6 million people per year in the last three years.”
“The government has planned to extend teacher’s qualification by improving their competencies through certification programme and ensuring the delivery of quality education in 10 years’ time...”
Indonesia welcomes the “Indonesia-UNESCO Country Programming Document”, which highlights cooperation priorities and promotes the realization of shared goals in education, science, culture and communication and information through an interdisciplinary approach.