President Türk on Slovenia’s role in global development

Ljubljana, 16.10.2009  |  press release

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, attended the opening of the "Stand Up and Take Action" event as part of the Slovenian Development Days aimed at raising public awareness of the importance of international development cooperation and efforts of the international community to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. In his speech, President Türk spoke about the role of Slovenia in the field of development aid. He emphasised that development aid was associated with economic cooperation between the donor and the recipient country. Since Slovenia, as a developed country and EU Member State, has just started down this path, it is right that we talk about development as comprehensively as possible, with regard to the dimension of development aid as well as to the dimension of economic cooperation, said President Türk.

He also touched upon the Millennium Development Goals and explained how this idea gradually evolved through a series of development conferences organised by the United Nations in the 1990s. In 2000, the Millennium Development Goals were finally set forth and presented in a special report of the Secretary-General of United Nations, which was, according to President Türk, a remarkable achievement. Political issues deriving from the Iraq war and subsequent economic crisis have jeopardised the implementation of these goals. In President Türk’s view, additional efforts should be made to achieve these goals, and if necessary some should be revised.

The President stated that the equality of women was one of the most feasible development goals, also important as a political goal. He pointed to education being of significant importance, which was proved by numerous empirical studies. Also in countries with a strong patriarchal tradition, the education of the female population has a tremendous impact on social relations and development. The same applies to Slovenia, as no society is perfect in this respect, said President Türk, adding that the equality of men and women in decision-making processes was of paramount importance for achieving the goal of balanced development.

At the close of his address, Dr Türk highlighted that Slovenia should enhance the understanding of the global environment. "Our future is in the sovereignty, openness and capacity of linking with the world as a whole. We have to work on this and many tasks lie ahead," stressed Dr Türk. Slovenia has to understand what actions a global world expects from a developed country. According to the President, this also has to do with overcoming historical burdens. He expressed the hope that this overcoming will be successful and that Slovenia will know how to tackle issues related to its role in global development and understanding of the world.