New Zealand participates in ASEAN Workshop in Maluku

Ambassador Taylor with other participants at the ASEAN workshop

New Zealand is committed to supporting the peace consolidation process in Maluku province through a range of development programmes, said New Zealand Ambassador to Indonesia, David Taylor at an ASEAN workshop held in Maluku recently.

New Zealand has channelled around NZ$8 million and another NZ$2 million in 2010/11 to various projects in Maluku in the past five years, with the aim of helping these once conflicted-affected communities, he said.

Projects included the Mercy Corps’ Maluku Economic Recovery Programmes.
Mercy Corps is working with the local community to rebuild livelihoods and strengthen peace and stability.

New Zealand is also funding the UNIDO-ILO’S village-based economic development programme aimed at supporting small and medium sized enterprise development for the poor.

Other projects supported by New Zealand include the United Nations Development Programmes’ Peace Through Development programme in Maluku which seeks to strengthen government capacity in conflict sensitive planning and civil society through improved livelihoods; and Save the Children's Sustainable Education Quality through Empowering Local Actors (SEQUEL) project which operates in three districts to promote and advocate for child participation and child protection in school, as well as building children's capacity for leadership and advocacy.

“As a Pacific country, New Zealand also sees itself as part of Asia. The same applies to Indonesia in reverse, as an Asian country that has deep connections with Melanesia and Polynesia and a geography that extends into the Pacific. Social and cultural linkages can help our communities understand each other and feel part of a wider East Asian community,” said Ambassador Taylor

The Directorate General of ASEAN Cooperation of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in conjunction with the Provincial Government of Maluku, organised the ASEAN Regional Media Workshop on New ASEAN and Its Cooperation with Its Dialogue Partners in Ambon, the capital city of Maluku province, during 8-9 October 2010.

Other keynote speakers included Indonesian Director-General of ASEAN Cooperation Djauhari Oratmangun, ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General Bagas Hapsoro, and Japanese Ambassador to ASEAN Takio Yamada. The workshop was aimed at bringing ASEAN closer to all elements of the Indonesian society -- including those in the eastern part of the country -- in anticipation of Indonesia’s Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2011 and of the establishment of the ASEAN Community in 2015.