- We, the Foreign Ministers of Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Türkiye and Australia – comprising MIKTA – held the 20th MIKTA Foreign Ministers' Meeting today via videoconference. The meeting was chaired by Senator the Hon Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia. This meeting marked the conclusion of Australia's year long MIKTA chairpersonship.
- MIKTA, since its launch in 2013, has brought together five countries across regions with a unique cultural and historical background to demonstrate our resolve to strengthen the global order. In the midst of global challenges, this shared resolve has never been more important. MIKTA members have joined together for twenty Foreign Ministers' Meetings, twelve Senior Officials' Meetings, seven Parliament Speakers' Consultations and over seventy joint statements.
- We are pleased to acknowledge the second-ever head-of-state-level statement made on behalf of MIKTA, issued during the United Nations High-Level week in September 2021. With this statement, we reasserted our commitment to open societies, democratic values, and multilateralism. We will continue efforts to promote and support a multilateral system – with the United Nations at its core – that is effective, open and transparent and accountable to member states.
- As G20 members we also strongly support Indonesia's G20 Presidency and its theme “Recover Together, Recover Stronger”. We welcome Indonesia's focus on concrete outcomes in global health, digital transformation and sustainable energy transitions that will benefit all especially developing countries. Members also support the G20's efforts, under Indonesia's Presidency, to address gaps and challenges in financing pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
- Noting the importance of strengthening our preparedness for global health crises, we reiterate the MIKTA Joint Statement on COVID-19 issued at the 74th World Health Assembly. We recognise the importance of MIKTA countries continuing to collaborate and exchange best practices, including to achieve extensive immunization against COVID-19. We renew our call for equitable access to, and distribution of, safe, affordable and effective COVID-19 vaccines for all. We recognise the fundamental role of the Access to COVID‑19 Tools Accelerator and its COVAX Facility, including the COVAX Advanced Market Commitment, which serves as the main multilateral mechanism to ensure fair access and equitable global distribution of COVID‑19 vaccines, and health systems' readiness for their deployment, in particular for low and middle‑income economies. We call upon all stakeholders to further strengthen international cooperation in this regard.
- MIKTA members recognise the importance of an agile and responsive global health architecture, with the World Health Organization at its core, and the need to reduce the risk of future zoonotic disease outbreaks through a multi‑sector, evidence‑based One Health approach. Members welcome the agreement to begin negotiations on a WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response which provides the opportunity to strengthen the WHO and enhance surveillance and protection from future infectious diseases at the national, regional, and global levels, and support efforts to strengthen the International Health Regulations (2005).
- We reassert our commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and underscore the need to accelerate its implementation in the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Given the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on people in vulnerable situations, we reiterate the importance of upholding the commitment to “leave no one behind” under the 2030 Agenda. We also stress the importance of action on cross-cutting priorities, including gender equality and disability inclusion. We support the United Nations Economic and Social Council's (ECOSOC) work aimed at accelerating the implementation of SDGs and will support efforts of Mexico, Indonesia, and the Republic of Korea in ECOSOC during their membership.
- Given the growing challenges our planet is faced with, including disasters from droughts, desertification, loss of biodiversity, food shortages, water scarcity, wildfires, and sea-level rise, we reiterate our commitment to investing more in research, innovation, and infrastructure to strengthen environmental sustainability, adaptation, and resilience against the adverse effects of climate change and disaster risks. The Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction hosted by Indonesia in May 2022 will provide a forum to strengthen international and regional cooperation to advance the capacity of nations, communities, and people in disaster management to build resilience and share knowledge and best practices and discuss the latest developments in reducing disaster risk, which will be critical to informing the Mid-Term Review of the 2015-2030 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. To achieve sustainable development, we underscore the need to step up our efforts to change the patterns of production and consumption in a sustainable manner and address the high level of greenhouse gas emissions through international cooperation.
- Underlining the importance of protecting and promoting human rights, we reiterate that particular attention should be given to people in vulnerable situations, who bear the brunt of the pandemic and may be at risk of human rights abuses, including all women, children, older persons, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and local communities, refugees, internally displaced people, workers in the informal economy, and migrants. We reaffirm our commitment to gender equality and women's empowerment, as critical to stability, security, and prosperity. We acknowledge and reaffirm the important statements made at the 65th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the Human Rights Council on violence against women and girls with disabilities, and the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women Peace and Security. We acknowledge the continued efforts of members in advancing disability inclusion and rights, including through the annual MIKTA event in observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
- As open economies benefitting from international trade and investment, we reaffirm the importance of promoting and strengthening a universal, open, transparent, predictable, inclusive, non-discriminatory, equitable, and rules-based multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its centre. In the midst of trade and travel disruptions caused by the pandemic, we reaffirm that emergency measures must be targeted, proportionate, transparent and temporary, that they must not create unnecessary barriers to trade or disruption to global supply chains and investments, and that they must be consistent with World Trade Organisation (WTO) principles and rules. We underscore the important role that the WTO should play in ensuring a strong economic recovery and building economic resilience to deal with the current and future pandemics. We demonstrate our ongoing support for the necessary reform of the WTO to ensure the organization's effectiveness, relevance and capacity to address current and emerging challenges. In this regard, we agree to work with other WTO members to reinvigorate the negotiation function of the WTO with the objective to achieve meaningful outcomes during the twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference, due to be held in 2022. Understanding that investment is an engine of growth, we will take steps to improve the investment climate and promote sustainable investment in new and strategic sectors, such as the digital and the green economy. As part of our efforts to strengthen global trade, we reiterate our commitment to strengthen SMEs in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and improve their agility to face the new normal, as well as increase capacity and resilience in global supply chains.
- We acknowledge Mexico's contribution to the work of the United Nations Security Council during its 2021-2022 term, we reaffirm our commitment to strengthening the UN's architecture for the maintenance of international peace and security, as well as the mainstreaming of gender perspectives across the work of the Council and full implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda. We commend the success of the 2021 Seoul UN Peacekeeping Ministerial hosted by the Republic of Korea. We recognize the participation and the commitment of MIKTA members and reaffirm our support for the pledges made at the Ministerial to enhance the effectiveness of UN Peacekeeping Operations (PKO). We reiterate the significance of the Seoul Initiative on PKO technology and medical capacity building and acknowledge that its implementation will contribute to further enhancing the performance and impact of PKOs.
- We appreciate the valuable participation of various stakeholders from MIKTA countries to advance our common agenda. We believe that multi-stakeholder partnerships engaging parliaments, academia and civil society, as well as government institutions, are crucial for deepening our bilateral ties and mobilizing various sources of innovation. In this regard, we welcomed the holding of the 7th MIKTA Parliament Speakers' Consultation on 7 February 2022.
- MIKTA members call on reinforced multilateral efforts to improve the dire situation faced by the people in Afghanistan and those displaced in neighbouring countries. We appreciate the role of regional countries in providing protection to Afghan refugees as well as their support and cooperation with the international community, including through the UN, in delivering humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. We also support international and local efforts dedicated to improving the humanitarian situation in the country. We also call on the Taliban to uphold the human rights of all Afghans, including women and girls and minorities.
- We are gravely concerned about the situation in Myanmar and call for the immediate cessation of violence against civilian populations, the release of all those arbitrarily detained, including foreigners, as well as the safe and dignified return of those who have been forcibly displaced. We call on the military to exercise utmost restraint as well as commence constructive dialogue to seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the people of Myanmar, and facilitate full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access. We urge the swift implementation of ASEAN's Five-Point Consensus by Myanmar and a return to the path of democracy. We encourage the international community to work together to support an end to the violence.
- MIKTA members deplore in the strongest terms Russia's aggression against Ukraine, which threatens the international rules based order. We support Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and call upon Russia to immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine andwithdraw its forces. We agree that diplomacy is the only way forward and urge all relevant parties to continue to engage in dialogue to seek a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
- We note the collective achievements accomplished during the past year, particularly in strengthening our collaboration in multilateral fora and expanding areas of cooperation amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We look forward to further cooperation and continued progress under Türkiye's leadership in 2022.
