Statement by Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka,
Under-Secretary-General
and Executive Director of UN-HABITAT
 at the reception of hosted by the
Government of Indonesia on the occasion of the
 22nd session of the
Governing Council of UN-HABITAT,
Nairobi, Kenya, 1 April 2009.

Your Excellency, Mr.  Mohammad Yusuf Asy'ari, State Minister of Housing of the Republic of Indonesia,
Your Excellency, Mr. Budi Bowoleksono, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia and Permanent Representative to UN-HABITAT,
Honourable Ministers,
Your Excellencies Parliamentarians, Ambassadors, Permanent Representatives and Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Distinguished guests,
Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is indeed a privilege to be share this moment with you as a guest of the Government of Indonesia. We have enjoyed a long and fruitful history with your country that goes back many years.

Our collaboration, in fact, extends back to almost two decades with the Kampoon Improvement Programmes (KIPs) and with local government training and capacity building.

But, without a doubt, a highlight of our collaboration revolved around the 2004 tsunami.

I remember how the late North Sumatra Governor, His Excellency Tengku Rizal Nurdin, so kindly gave of his time to personally show me the devastation and destruction. What I witnessed is etched indelibly on my memory. Tragically, he died months later in an air accident, and it was very apt that posthumously he was awarded the UN-HABITAT Scroll of Honor for his leadership.

Yet despite the tsunami crisis, Indonesia graciously offered to host the global celebrations of World Habitat Day. 

I remember too how more than 1,000 people came to share the World Habitat Day ceremony with us in Chenkgareng, West Jakarta.

One of the highlights was the presentation of UN-HABITAT’s Habitat Scroll of Honour to Professor Johan Silas for a lifetime of work dedicated to providing affordable shelter for the poor, and the Jakarta Metropolitan City for building new infrastructure to create an inclusive, cosmopolitan city.

And so I ask you all to raise a glass and toast our Indonesian friends for many more decades of fruitful collaboration.

Thank you