G20 Sherpa Meeting: Indonesia Advocates for Gaza and Civil Society Involvement

Rio de Janeiro, INTI – Brazil's G20 Presidency held the 3rd Sherpa Meeting on July 3-5, 2024, in Rio de Janeiro. The meeting discussed several topics, including the current geopolitical situation and proposals from 15 working groups, 2 task forces, and initiatives that are part of the G20 Diplomatic Track. The Indonesian delegation was led by Deputy for Coordination of International Economic Cooperation at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Edi Prio Pambudi, and Special Staff to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dian Triansjah Djani, to strengthen priority programs as Indonesia's Co-Sherpa for the G20.

During the meeting, Indonesia's Co-Sherpa continued to push for several priorities important to Indonesia. Consistently, Indonesia emphasized that double standards regarding the current conditions in Gaza should not be allowed in the G20 forum. Developing countries agreed that the situation in Gaza is not merely a situation but a more urgent humanitarian crisis compared to Ukraine.

Considering this, Indonesia and other developing countries called for equal or greater treatment towards Gaza compared to Ukraine. Special Staff Dian also mentioned that Indonesia will continue to advocate for a two-state solution and remain consistent with international law regarding the situation in Gaza.

Emphasizing Civil Society Involvement

Indonesia also highlighted the importance of civil society involvement in decision-making at the G20. “Indonesia continues to encourage civil society participation to provide innovative solutions to the G20 and foster public trust in the multilateral forum,” said Deputy Edi. Additionally, Indonesia hopes that the voice of the Global South in the G20 can strengthen rules and policy frameworks to attract investment, create sustainable growth, and generate new jobs.

In line with Indonesia's proposals, the Brazilian Presidency also aims to strengthen the role of civil society in seeking solutions to global issues. This year, the Brazilian Presidency established two new Engagement Groups (EG), Justice20 (J20) and Ocean20 (O20), in addition to the 11 legacy EGs from previous Presidencies. Furthermore, the Brazilian Presidency gave EG representatives the opportunity to present their reports and recommendation proposals to the G20 Sherpa.

Support for Pandemic Fund and WTO Reform

Several countries expressed strong support and hope for increased pledges to the Pandemic Fund to enhance support for countries in need. Additionally, there was strong encouragement to continue WTO reform efforts, including facilitating plurilateral investment agreements and improving dispute resolution mechanisms.

In the final session, the G20 Sherpas discussed the framework of the Rio Declaration, which will be adopted by heads of state when they meet in Rio de Janeiro in November. “The Sherpas are responsible for preparing this process, helping leaders face the Summit, and also producing the leaders' declaration,” explained Brazil's Sherpa, Ambassador Mauricio Lyrio.

Upcoming Negotiations and Social Summit

Next, the Brazilian Presidency will begin negotiating the draft declaration, which will generally address social inclusion, food security, poverty reduction, sustainable development, and energy transition, as well as global governance institution reform, in August 2024.

Furthermore, the Brazilian Presidency will hold the G20 Social Summit on November 14-16, 2024, ahead of the G20 Summit on November 16-18, 2024, in Rio de Janeiro. At this forum, there will be a Plenary session discussing global conditions within the framework of the 3 themes of the Presidency, resulting in deliverables in the form of the Declaration of the Social Summit, which is a repository of EG recommendations to be submitted to the Heads of State/Government at the G20 Summit

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