"Every now and then, we talk about the issue of our assistance to the people of Afghanistan, especially in terms of education for women and we walk the talk in the sense that we don't just convey a position but we try our best to carry it out," she said in a statement delivered in Jakarta on Wednesday (27/12/2023).
Retno Marsudi explained that although the number is still limited, Indonesia has started accepting a number of educational scholarship recipients from Afghanistan at a number of universities in the country. According to him, this has invited similar interest from a number of countries to contribute together with Indonesia in providing educational scholarships for Afghan women and girls.
"At least we have received offers to collaborate from Norway and the Netherlands. And most recently, Japan has started to contact Indonesia to also contribute in providing scholarships, especially for Afghan women and girls," he said.
Retno Marsudi further explained that the educational scholarships given to Afghan students were not only intended for female students. Indonesia also opens scholarship opportunities for male Afghan students because according to Retno, education is a basic right for all people, both women and men.
"We don't only give scholarships to women because education is for all, therefore there are always men who take part in the scholarships offered by Indonesia," he concluded.
