VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) urged the General Elections Commission (KPU) to be mindful of several aspects while organizing the 2024 General Elections.

"The remaining time (as a) momentum must be utilized well to bolster the technical capacity to prepare (for) the election, work on tackling any deficiencies, and addressing any issues," the president stated here, Friday.

While speaking at KPU's National Consolidation Meeting for the 2024 General Elections, the president underlined the need for technical regulation at every election stage to ensure its legality.

Apart from urging the election commission to be prudent in every action, as even technical aspects could be perceived as politically motivated, Jokowi also called on the KPU to ensure detailed electoral logistics preparations and arrangements.

"Planning and procurement must be exactly to (match) the need and (be) timely. We must not allow under-preparedness to cause any quarrel. Even a minor aspect could cause a quarrel on election day. Moreover, efficiency and transparency are also essential," he noted.

He then underlined the importance of improving KPU's human resources from the central to the lowest level in the region to ensure smooth election conduct.

"Provide (election officers) with sufficient capacity to ensure they will perform their duty well. We must understand this important mission of organizing the election by exhibiting credibility and the best ability for the nation," the president stated.

Jokowi said that electoral organizers must be mindful that the 2024 General Elections will be organized amid fluctuating global conditions, so they should work and utilize the budget efficiently.

The KPU must also bolster its efforts to boost political education among candidates and voters by encouraging peace, honesty, and integrity in elections while discouraging behaviors that might be harmful to democracy.

The president emphasized that all should encourage a quality campaign that bolsters Indonesia's democracy, optimizes information technology, and encourages a war of ideas.

Meanwhile, KPU Chairperson Hasyim Asy'ari expressed gratitude to the president for having visited the national consolidation event.

"We can say that Mr President's presence is a form of support from the government to KPU and shows that elections will be held punctually (every) five years," he affirmed.

Asy'ari expects that at the national consolidation event, Jokowi can give directives and bring enthusiasm to the KPU to make the 2024 general elections and regional head elections a success. (Antaranews)

Indonesian language has been spoken by a global populace of at least 300 million, including 30 million non-Indonesians, according to the South Sumatra Language Agency.

"Yes, almost 300 million of the global population, including Indonesia's 270 million population, speaks Indonesian. Bahasa Indonesia clearly has the potential to become an international language at par with English," South Sumatra Language Agency Head Umar Solikhan stated here, Thursday.

The regional agency head noted that by mid-2022, some two million people in the Americas and Europe, 2.4 million in Asia-Pacific and Africa, and 5.2 million people in Southeast Asia, excluding Indonesia, speak Indonesian.

While Indonesian language has been taught at some 428 global institutions in 56 countries, some 142 thousand foreign nationals are studying Indonesian under the agency's Indonesian Language for Foreign Speakers programme, he remarked.

Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic did not bar the spread and development of the Indonesian language overseas, particularly as Law No. 24 of 2009 mandated efforts to make Indonesian an international language, he noted.

To promote correct and appropriate use of Indonesian language, Solikhan said that his agency grants awards to government and private institutions deemed consistent in maintaining the quality of language used in public spaces and internal documents.

He affirmed that the agency remains committed to providing guidance and is ready to be a partner to develop and promote the right and apt use of Indonesian language.

Earlier, on Wednesday (November 30), in accordance with the national language policy mandating regional language preservation, the South Sumatra Language Agency launched an online Palembang-Indonesian language dictionary.

Apart from facilitating residents keen to learn the Palembang language, the dictionary is also an effort to preserve the local language and protect it from extinction, Solikhan said.

The South Sumatra Language Agency, culturalists, academicians, and Palembang-Malay linguists were involved in creating the digital Palembang-Indonesian dictionary. The team also conducted several tests before the dictionary’s launch. (Antaranews)

President Joko Widodo reminded that 2024 is a crucial time for politics since during that time, Indonesia would host the largest democratic party simultaneously.

The head of state made the remarks at the national consolidation meeting for preparations for the 2024 simultaneous elections, hosted by the General Election Commission at the Beach City Entertainment Center, Ancol, here on Friday.

"2024 is a crucial political moment. We will host the biggest democratic party simultaneously in the same year. Elections for President and Vice President, House of Representatives, Regional Representative Council, Regional House of Representatives, and continued with Pilkada which will be held in the same year, namely 2024," he stated.

Jokowi emphasized that the 2024 Election was a huge event that would determine the future of the nation and state and was a democratic party involving a lot of voters.

According to the latest data, 189 million people were recorded as voters, who would participate in the 2024 simultaneous elections, with a voting time of around six hours.

"Managing this is not easy, given the vast territory of Indonesia, with diverse geographical conditions, different from other countries. Imagine having to go to 17 thousand islands, some are by boat, ship, while some of the logistics distribution must be supported by the national defense force and police force, and the terrain is difficult," he stated.

The head of state admitted that the national infrastructure was not truly perfect. There are good roads upon which toll roads have been built, but there are also roads that are still in poor condition.

However, Jokowi expressed confidence that with experience in hosting elections, the commission and its stakeholders can prepare for the 2024 elections much better than before. (antaranews)

The Government of Indonesia and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) confirmed stronger cooperation for the next four years on supporting food and agriculture development programs in Indonesia.

The development program was launched at the "Workshop of the Country Programming Framework" (CPF) in Bogor on Thursday (December 1), according to FAO Indonesia's statement  on Friday.

CPF is a planning and programming tool that translates the FAO Strategic Framework into actions in Indonesia during the 2021-2025 period.

The strategic document is conceived in close collaboration and partnership with the Government of Indonesia, and it aims to support the government's priorities, planning, implementation, and reporting vis-à-vis the 2030 Agenda.

The Ministry of Agriculture leads the implementation of CPF in Indonesia, coordinating and working closely together with other line ministries, agencies, and relevant stakeholders.

"CPF is set as the basis for FAO's country-level strategic priority and medium-term country-level programming. It defines the development priorities of Indonesia and FAO and contributes to national priorities, regional priorities, and corporate results," FAO Representative in Indonesia Rajendra Aryal stated.

Aryal explained that the CPF is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework and Indonesia's National Medium-Term Development Plan.

"CPF also plays a key role as the vehicle for defining United Nations' contribution and commitment to support national efforts to achieve economic, social, and environmental targets to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," Aryal further elaborated.

Under the CPF, there are nine FAO projects with the Ministry of Agriculture that are focused on various issues in the agricultural sector.

The issues include Agricultural Digitalization (e-Agriculture), Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), Emerging Zoonotic Diseases, African Swine Fever, disaster mitigation in livestock sector, Food Loss and Waste, urban food systems, and family farming.

"Through this CPF, I hope the cooperation between Indonesia and FAO can strengthen further to plan more with required flexibility. It must look at the current multidimensional challenges, such as the latest situation at the global level in terms of food security, Covid pandemic, and other emerging infectious diseases, and the impacts of climate change," Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture Kasdi Subagyono remarked.

"The CPF aligns with the priorities of the Government of Indonesia, and it will contribute to the achievement of national strategic goals," he added.

In Indonesia, the FAO has provided technical assistance to strengthen the national food and agriculture sector through over 650 collaborative projects and programs with the support of over 1,600 international and national experts and consultants. (antaranews)