1. We, the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and Australia, and Deputy Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Mexico and Turkey – comprising MIKTA – met today in Sydney. This was the 8th meeting of MIKTA Foreign Ministers since their inaugural meeting in 2013.
2. MIKTA countries represent the great diversity of the international community: we are geographically dispersed; we represent different regional, cultural, religious and historical backgrounds; and we are at different stages of development. The breadth of our discussions today demonstrates that the scope of our shared interests transcend our diversity. We reiterate our desire to ensure that, through a fresh approach to diplomacy, MIKTA becomes an innovative and influential voice that shapes international opinion and action to the benefit of all.
3. In this era of great complexity and rapid change, we reaffirm our common interest in upholding an effective, rules-based global order, underpinned by the United Nations and other multilateral efforts. We recognise that contributing to United Nations peacekeeping operations represents one of the most iconic expressions of solidarity and global responsibility of the UN Member States in accordance with their obligations under the UN Charter and, in this regard, we emphasise their contribution to a comprehensive strategy for sustaining peace. In particular, we acknowledge the importance of peacekeepers effectively delivering their mandated tasks, including, but not limited to, support for political processes and protection of civilians under threat, without prejudice to the primary responsibility of the host Government to protect civilians. To these ends, we will continue to make efforts to enhance the capacity of UN peacekeeping operations.
4. We reiterate the MIKTA Ministerial Statement of 22 September 2016 in which we noted the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2270 on 2 March 2016 condemning North Korea’s fourth nuclear test on 6 January. We continue to express grave concerns over the increasing frequency of North Korea's provocations this year, including its nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches, which also diminish resources for addressing the humanitarian needs of the North Korean people. We strongly urge North Korea to immediately and fully comply with all its international obligations, including by implementing relevant UN Security Council Resolutions. We also stress that North Korea’s violations of its obligations undermine the rules-based international order based on the UN Charter that MIKTA aspires to uphold.
5. We affirm our solidarity with Turkey in facing the foiled coup attempt that took place on July 15, 2016, and welcomed Turkey’s overcoming that attempt. MIKTA denounces this violent coup attempt against the Constitution, President and Government of Turkey and its people, as we denounce any group that seeks to undermine democracy. We congratulate the firm stance of the Turkish people who risked their lives in defence of democracy and constitution. We note Turkey’s advice that it has designated the Fethullah Gulen Network as a terrorist organisation under its domestic laws.
6. We reaffirm our collective resolve to counter and prevent terrorism and violent extremism. We stand united against this scourge which knows no borders, respects no belief, and holds no respect for human rights. We will respond to such a threat to international peace and security by upholding the rule of law, including international law and human rights law. And we will continue to address the conditions conducive to terrorism and violent extremism by promoting good governance, tolerance and respect between faiths, and the empowerment of women and young people.
7. We highlight our ongoing commitment to resisting protectionism and strengthening the global trading system. We support the G20 leaders’ determination to foster a more innovative, open and inclusive world economy. We share the view that MIKTA can play a constructive role within the context of the G20, and we discussed ways to further enhance MIKTA’s contribution to achieving inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the G20. In this regard, we also welcome the close collaboration of our G20 Sherpas throughout the past year.
8. We welcome the MIKTA trade and investment agenda, including efforts to ensure the benefits of trade and investment are clear to our people. We agree that an equitable playing field is fundamental to global growth and that MIKTA will play its part, including by exploring options for collaboration on aid for trade.
9. We consider the outcome of the twenty-second session of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change an important step forward in implementing the Paris Agreement and reaffirm our collective commitment to the Paris Agreement.
10. We give our strong support to the modernisation of international energy organisations, including the ambitious two-year modernisation agenda of the International Energy Agency (IEA). Broadening international energy organisations’ engagement with emerging economies, promoting clean energy technology and energy efficiency and broadening energy security arrangements will all help to ensure they address the challenges of today’s world. In line with Goal 7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we support efforts to promote energy access, including plans aiming to enhance energy access in the Asia-Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa regions.
11. We reiterate our commitment to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes the Sustainable Development Goals and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. Moreover, we support the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) and in the lead-up to the Second High Level Meeting of the GPEDC in Nairobi, we recognise that a significant amount of resource mobilisation, strengthening of institutional capacities and an integral, people-centred focus on practical action to implement development effectiveness principles is vital to fully contributing to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
12. We reaffirm our engagement to advance the joint commitments we made at the World Humanitarian Summit held on 23-24 May 2016 in İstanbul, Turkey. We acknowledge the importance of respect for the human rights of all migrants; a shared responsibility; addressing the root causes of irregular movement of persons; and combating trafficking in persons and people smuggling. With more than 65 million people displaced by violence and persecution, and more than 130 million people in humanitarian need worldwide, we agree to drive further action to bring about real change to the delivery of aid and humanitarian support. Recognizing the pressing need for fresh thinking on how to respond effectively to the number, scale, and complexity of humanitarian crises, we agree to drive further action to bring about real change to the delivery of aid and humanitarian support. With regard to migration, we agree on the importance of facilitating orderly, safe, and responsible mobility of people, including through implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and in the urgency of promoting an approach that recognises the valuable contributions of migrants to the development of countries of origin and destination. We commit to prioritise these issues as the international community develops common principles and approaches to support refugees, displaced people and migrants through a Global Compact on Refugees and a Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. We welcome the appointment of Mexico, a member of MIKTA, as co-facilitator alongside Switzerland, in the intergovernmental Conference at the UN to adopt the Global Compact in 2018.
13. Reflecting our commitment at the World Humanitarian Summit, held in İstanbul, Turkey on 23-24 May 2016, to women’s empowerment and acknowledging the particular needs of women and girls in emergencies, we welcome Australia’s offer of Humanitarian Leadership Scholarships for women from MIKTA countries which wish to participate. We also pledge to work together to advocate and support implementation of the Minimum Initial Services Package for sexual health and reproductive rights in emergencies. Our goals are: to end preventable deaths of women, adolescent girls and newborns in crisis and to meaningfully involve women in determining their own fate, no matter the challenges before them.
14. We also explored how business, government and communities can work seamlessly together to reduce and address the impact of natural disasters. We discussed with members of the Australian business community the role of government and the private sector in mitigating the risk and impact of natural disasters. We will explore the creation of a MIKTA Business Roundtable to promote industry engagement on disaster resilience ahead of the fifth Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction in Mexico in May 2017.
15. We affirm the importance of using latest technologies to improve public policy-making and to engage in more innovative and bolder efforts to improve public policy impact and results. Given the rapid pace of change within economies and communities, we agree to use MIKTA as an opportunity to share public policy lessons of mutual relevance, especially in regard to digital transformation and social policy initiatives.
16. In this spirit, we announced a call for new ideas in the form of a MIKTA Innovation Challenge. Delivering education in emergencies, whether due to natural disaster or conflict, is a pressing issue. Currently, 75 million children and young people are out of school in 35 crisis-affected countries and, as a result of gender stereotypes and other factors, girls are 2.5 times more likely to be out of school than boys. The MIKTA Innovation Challenge will reward innovative solutions for expanding educational opportunities in emergency situations, particularly for girls. The challenge will open in MIKTA countries in 2017.
17. We also agree to create a MIKTA Innovation Group led by a network of private sector innovation leaders. These five innovation leaders, who will be announced at a launch in early 2017, will identify promising young innovators and entrepreneurs and connect them with innovation hubs in MIKTA partner countries. The initiative will encourage collaboration between some of our most inventive thinkers and promote commercialisation of new technologies and creative ideas. We recognise that building dynamic, cooperative and inclusive innovation ecosystems contributes to the creation of new and better jobs, increasing productivity, addressing global challenges, building a cleaner environment, promoting inclusive labour force participation, reducing inequalities, improving people’s lives and eroding poverty.
18. We recognise the importance of reaching out to a wide range of stakeholders such as the academic community, media, young students and entrepreneurs as a way to make MIKTA more effective by drawing on the talents and skills within our societies more broadly. The 2nd MIKTA Speakers Consultation, held in Hobart in October 2016, was also instrumental in strengthening ties between our parliaments.
19. We are of the view that providing high quality consular services to our nationals and making an effective response to overseas crises represent important tasks for our foreign ministries. In this regard, we agreed to consider strengthening cooperation on overseas crisis management and consular services by sharing best practices and systems of each country.
20. Strengthening friendships and understanding across MIKTA is one of our priorities. We agree to establish a MIKTA Diplomatic Community to broaden MIKTA’s diplomatic footprint through training and information exchanges, and opportunities for placements of staff in partners’ embassies. We welcome the ongoing agenda of consultations and meetings between MIKTA legislative leaders, trade experts, development specialists, academics and young professionals, among others. We will continue strengthening these and other MIKTA Networks. In the coming months our parliaments will build on this collaboration by exploring opportunities for exchanges of staff to promote practical strategies for enhancing the openness of parliaments and participation in them.
21. We thank Australia for its leadership as MIKTA chair in 2016 and note that much has been accomplished during its term. We look forward to further cooperation in 2017 when Turkey assumes the role of MIKTA chair and we will further develop our agenda so that MIKTA can reach its full potential as a force for good global governance and upholding the rules-based global order.