CIDISS – The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Retno Marsudi at the 73rd anniversary of UN Day stressed the importance of maintaining multilateral cooperation and the principle of multilateralism to achieve inclusive global development.
Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi opened the talk show and photo exhibition themed “UN and Us: Engaging People in the Realizing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda” at the National Museum in Jakarta, Friday, saying cooperation and synergy between countries is needed in an effort to achieve inclusive global development.
On that occasion, Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno expressed concern about the current state of the international community which tends to abandon the principle of multilateralism, where several countries began to adhere to the values of unilateralism and narrow national interests.
Foreign Minister Retno said that he observed that there were currently worrying trends from unilateralism and narrow national interests. The world tends to ignore various international commitments and agreements. In short, the principle of multilateralism and the benefits of the existence of the United Nations are questioned.
For this reason, the Indonesian Foreign Minister stressed that for Indonesia, the challenges facing the world today can only be overcome by preserving and strengthening multilateralism. That challenge can only be resolved through cooperation and collaboration between countries.
The Indonesian Foreign Minister said, the principles of multilateralism ensure that all countries have equal rights and voice equal. Its principles ensure that the strong will not conquer the weak. The principles of multilateralism ensure that the win-win paradigm will always apply. The Indonesian Foreign Minister added that the principle of multilateralism can ensure cooperation between countries to achieve inclusive global development by upholding the principle of “prosperity for all and no one left behind”. For this reason, according to Retno, affirmative actions and policies are needed that support and side with groups and people who tend to experience discrimination or marginalization.
The Indonesian Foreign Minister continued, without affirmative action and policies, achieving shared prosperity would be very difficult. Alignment becomes very important in international relations, partisanship with vulnerable groups, alignments with the interests of developing countries and underdeveloped countries, alignments with small island countries, alignments with women and children.
This is in accordance with the Indonesian slogan: “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika,” “Unity in Diversity.” By working together and utilizing the extraordinary language, geography and economic diversity of the region, we have the opportunity to create new growth models that can benefit all parties.
By: Reza Setiawan