Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : THE SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 14/11/88
Tajuk/Title : THE 10TH INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION
OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS
(IFNGO) CONFERENCE
Dr. James Chien,
President of IFNGO;
The Honourable Dato' Megat Junid,
President of PEMADAM;
Honourable Ministers;
Excellencies;
Distinguished Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am honoured to be invited to address this
distinguished gathering of Non-Governmental Organisations.
The honour is even greater for Malaysia to have been
selected to host the 10th Conference. To all foreign
speakers invited to present papers at this Conference and to
all foreign participants, I extend a warm welcome to
Malaysia. I sincerely hope that your stay in this country
will be a memorable one and that you will take back with you
happy memories of Malaysia.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
2. In 1979, 10 countries came together in Jakarta at the
International Conference On The Role Of NGOs in Drug Abuse
Prevention and Control. For 5 days, they deliberated on the
roles that NGOs could play in prevention education, law
enforcement, treatment and rehabilitation, and fostering
regional and international cooperation. The resulting
document of deliberation was one of the earliest guide for
NGOs to undertake drug abuse prevention activities. The
conference was to lead to the birth of the Federation of
NGOs -- formed to show the commitment of participating
countries to continue highlighting the role that NGOs could
be called on to play in drug abuse prevention and control.
This Federation has been recognised not only by the
respective participating countries, but also by the Colombo
Plan Bureau whose financial and material assistance
contributed to its continued existence. I wish to record
our sincere appreciation to those who have tirelessly kept
the flame of the NGO movement alive and hopefully will
continue to do so in the future.
3. The 1980's will be well remembered as a decade that
focussed upon the social ills befalling mankind. There was
and still is the hunger problem in some developing nations,
pestilence and calamities in others. But the greatest
scourge is drug abuse, which has brought about unprecedented
levels of addiction, corruption, economic destabilisation
and finally acts of terrorism. There was thus an urgent
need to intensify governmental, intergovernmental,
non-governmental and individual efforts to curb the supply
of and demand for illicit drugs. This was manifested in the
historic International Conference On Drug Abuse and Illicit
Trafficking or ICDAIT convened in Vienna under the auspices
of the United Nations. Leaders from 138 countries came
together to pledge the political commitment required to
confront the drug menace.
4. ICDAIT provided more than just the political will. The
participants debated and approved a Comprehensive
Multidisciplinary Outline of Future Activities in Drug Abuse
Control, commonly referred to as the CMO. This document is
a compendium of recommendations on future directions and
activities to be undertaken by states and international
agencies in their efforts to combat the drug problem. It
was recognised that emphasis for future action should focus
on prevention efforts, especially in the field of preventive
education and community action.
5. These prevention efforts are to be undertaken through
schools and in the workplaces, by civic, community and
special interest groups and by the media. This document
also contained proposals formulated at the Stockholm
Conference of NGOs in September 1986. It thus officially
designated a role for the NGOs. It is this document that
should now provide the NGOs their guiding light in
undertaking future activities.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
6. The theme for this Conference -- 'From Global
Commitment To Community Action' -- is most appropriate. The
stage is now set for you to translate the Global Commitment
made at ICDAIT into plans of actions. Decisions,
resolutions and recommendations have followed your past
deliberations. To what extent and with what degree of
success have these decisions, resolutions and recomendations
been implemented, remain vital questions. Accordingly this
meeting, your 10th, should provide the opportunity to
evaluate your past performances, determine the lacunae and
overcome the shortcomings in your approaches to ensure
optimal integrated action between NGOs, which must be
carried out in concert with national interests and within
the framework of governmental programmes. Only through the
implementation of the CMO at the community level would
positive results be achieved to eradicate drug abuse and
trafficking.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
7. NGOs represent groupings of people who voluntarily get
together to provide a service to meet a specific need or to
tackle a specific problem. This service is established
without any external force or compulsion. NGOs provide
opportunities for teamwork, for the achievement of a common
goal. NGOs can systematically create awareness among the
people about their responsibilities and obligations,
particularly in overcoming specific social problems. Indeed
the role and functions of NGOs in combating social problems
need no emphasis. They are institutions which can make
positive contributions in initiating and improving services
at the community and grass root level. They also act as
training grounds for the growth and development of
leadership qualities and are storehouses of social power.
In short NGOs are the symbols of social consciousness,
expression of people's participation in the process of
development and change, and the instruments of community
intervention against social problems. The full involvement
of concerned NGOs as well as the mobilisation of community
resources in programmes of drug abuse prevention has great
potential. NGOs should form a united front against this
social evil.
8. Your meeting and deliberations over the next few days
will provide more than just an opportunity for you to expand
your knowledge on efforts to eradicate drug abuse. The
programme has been so structured as to enable you to discuss
and formulate a set of plans to be implemented on your
return to your respective countries. Thus it is imperative
from the onset that you evolve your thoughts towards this
goal. In this regard, I am happy that the topics that have
been identified for your deliberations will enable you to
achieve this objective. To my mind the topics to be
discussed at this Conference are sufficiently comprehensive
to enable you to formulate appropriate plans to improve on
programme delivery to the community. NGOs need to be
sufficiently professional in undertaking their tasks and
responsibilities.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
9. Allow me to also share some thoughts with you for
consideration in your deliberations. The theme of this
Conference emphasises primary prevention of drug abuse at
the community level. To this end, two specific areas are
being highlighted. They are the role of religion and
parents, and the improvement of management skills of NGOs.
Both these areas merit attention as long term strategies
towards eradicating drug abuse. The community and the
family represent the last frontiers in safeguarding our
survival as social and human beings. To this extent they
need to be further strengthened by reorienting and
reeducating them to their changing roles and functions in
conformity with the changing demands of our society. Strong
religious and moral values, enhanced by a sound family
background could ensure freedom from drug abuse for the
youth of tomorrow. You have to identify strategies on how
well religion and parents could be best used to fight drug
abuse amongst our adolescents.
10. Intrinsic to any successful implementation of well
intentioned programmes is co-operation. NGOs need to
cooperate at all levels to ensure that the problem of drug
abuse and trafficking is effectively tackled. The
responsibility of undertaking drug abuse prevention
programmes in the community is not the sole monopoly of any
individual NGO. For effective community intervention
against drug abuse, a participatory approach needs to be
acquired. For greater effectiveness, it should be more
people-oriented rather than just service-oriented. The
participatory approach allows the growth of local
leadership, community consciousness and revival of social
controls that will deter the spread of drug addiction.
Plans formulated to combat the drug problem will be more
implementable as they will be based on local needs, problems
and resources. Finally implementation of plans will be
smooth and speedy.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
11. I am confident that you will strive to make this 10th
Conference a truly memorable one. You have with you some of
the best resource persons who could provide considerable
assistance in the attainment of the desired objectives. We
in the Government will continue to support NGOs, whose
laudable efforts are seen as complementing and supplementing
those of the Government. It is my sincere hope that you who
represent the NGOs in your own countries will be able to
derive benefits from your attendance at this Conference and
that you will contribute your efforts to your own
programmes, your country's programmes as well as the overall
programmes of international community.
12. With this hope, it is my pleasure to declare this 10th
International Conference of the IFNGO open.
Thank you.
|
|