VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesia is ready to engage with the foreign ministers of ASEAN and dialogue partner countries at the 56th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM) in Jakarta, which will be held from July 11 to 14, 2023.

"I am very ready to start tomorrow's meeting," Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said at the 2023 AMM media center in Jakarta on Monday.

Marsudi will open the plenary session of the AMM on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, which will be preceded by ASEAN foreign ministers' discussions on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) and a meeting with the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR).

Indonesia is holding the ASEAN chairmanship this year, which has been themed "ASEAN Matters: Epicenter of Growth" to reflect its focus on strengthening the region's relevance in responding to regional and global challenges and becoming a center of economic growth.

The AMM retreat will be held on Wednesday, July 12.

On Thursday, July 13, ASEAN foreign ministers will meet with the foreign ministers of dialogue partner countries such as India, New Zealand, Russia, Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

On Friday, July 14, ASEAN foreign ministers will hold a meeting with the United States, and the agenda will continue with the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) meeting.

On the same day, ASEAN foreign ministers will meet with the East Asia Summit (EAS) foreign ministers and attend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).

Indonesia has received 13 requests for bilateral meetings from partner countries such as New Zealand, China, Timor-Leste, India, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the EU, Marsudi informed.

"However, this is very dynamic as we need to adjust the schedules. Sometimes we do not get to meet, but so far we have received 13 requests for a bilateral meeting," she said.

On Monday, Retno visited all event locations and the media center set up for the meeting to ensure that all facilities for media coverage of the event were well prepared.

Overall, 29 countries, along with the ASEAN Secretariat and the EU, will attend the 56th AMM in Jakarta. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesia' Finance Ministry discussed the implementation of disaster risk financing and insurance (DRFI) strategies with ASEAN delegates in Yogyakarta on Monday.

"We invite the delegates to discuss and share important lessons on increasing Southeast Asia's region, as it is the most vulnerable area in the world," expert staff to the Finance Minister, Parjiono, stated while opening the event.

"Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance and Adaptive Social Protection Implementation in Indonesia" is a side event of the ASEAN Finance Ministers and Bank Central Governors Meeting.

Indonesia is leading the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2023, with its Economic Track aiming to create an interconnected, inclusive, and prosperous ASEAN.

Parjiono explained that Indonesia has Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance (DRFI), which is a tool for the government to arrange disaster risk financing (DRF) through the state budget/regional budget (APBN/APBD).

"Indonesia is one of the few countries to have national strategies on disaster risk financing and insurance," he remarked.

The DRFI was launched by the ministry in 2018, though before that, Indonesia did not have DRFI.

He noted that the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake had caused losses to the tune of around Rp29 trillion though only one percent of the total losses had been borne by the insurance sector owing to the absence of DRFI.

Rest of the reconstruction and rehabilitation must utilize the APBN or APBD, he added.

The several disaster events that Indonesia had faced in the past, which caused huge amounts of economic losses, forced the government to launch the DRFI.

In addition to the DRFI, the government launched the Disaster Pooling Fund (DPF).

"This instrument is the first in the world that is specified to collect, develop, and transfer funds for disaster handling," he remarked.

Parjiono expressed hope that the two financing schemes would offer a lesson for the ASEAN region and also globally.

"These two big concepts, which are still being developed, have made Indonesia a nation that is referred for knowledge sharing (on disaster risk financing)," Parjiono stated.  (Antaranews)

Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was re-elected with 87.1% of the vote on Sunday, the Central Election Commission said on Monday, citing preliminary results paving his way to another seven years in power.

Mirziyoyev, who has lead Central Asia's most populous nation since 2016, called a snap election after changing the constitution through a referendum which reset his term count and extended the presidential term to seven years from five.

The 65-year-old president has opened up the country of 35 million people to foreign trade and investment while also easing restrictions on religious and political freedoms, although there still are no strong opposition groups or politicians in Uzbekistan.

Three other candidates ran in the election, but all represented parties that support the president.

"Uzbekistan’s early presidential election was technically well prepared but lacked genuine competition," observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said in a statement.

Mirziyoyev's key task will now be navigating through the regional crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine which has disrupted supply chains across the former Soviet Union and put a stress on diplomatic relations.

Since the start of the war, Tashkent has sought to maintain ties with both Russia, a former Soviet overlord and traditional partner, and the West; Uzbekistan has called for peace and refused to recognise the independence of pro-Russian statelets in eastern Ukraine. (Reuters)

The Human Rights Council is set to debate a contentious draft proposal on religious hatred in the wake of a Koran burning in Sweden, an initiative that has highlighted rifts in the U.N. body and challenged practices in human rights protection.

In a draft resolution presented by Pakistan on behalf of the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the group described the burning of the Koran in Stockholm last month as "offensive, disrespectful and a clear act of provocation" that incites hatred and constitutes a human rights violation.

The draft - which condemned "recurring acts of public burning of the Holy Koran in some European and other countries" - has stoked opposition from Western diplomats who argue it aims to safeguard religious symbols rather than human rights.

"We don't like the text," one Western diplomat said of the draft, which will be presented to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday. "Human rights are supposed to be attached to individuals, not to religions."

The OIC initiative also stokes tensions between Western states and the Islamic organisation at a time when the group has unprecedented clout in the council, the only body made up of governments to protect human rights worldwide.

Nineteen OIC countries are voting members of the 47-member council, and other states such as China have aligned with their draft resolution.

It remains to be seen whether Pakistan will succeed in rallying all OIC countries behind it. A Saudi-led effort to end a Yemen war crimes probe prevailed in 2021.

"If the resolution passes, as seems likely, it will strengthen the impression the council is flipping and the West is losing ground on key debates such as the boundary between free speech and hate speech, and whether religions have rights," said Marc Limon, director of the Geneva-based Universal Rights Group.

"This could make the council explode in acrimony."

The European Union has urged parties to reach a consensus on the issue.

"Defamation of religions has been a difficult topic for decades within the U.N.," an EU diplomat said in negotiations last week.

"The question where to draw the line between freedom of expression and incitement to hatred is indeed a very complicated one." (Reuters)