VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati announced that the central government will grant funds worth Rp10 billion (around US$673 thousand) to local governments that successfully controlled inflation in their respective regions.

"We will see the possibility of granting around Rp10 billion for each region that can reduce (inflation)," Indrawati remarked at the Presidential Palace here on Tuesday.

She said the incentive, amounting to Rp10 billion, will be given to the top 10 regions with the lowest inflation and the top 10 in provinces, districts, and cities.


On Monday (September 12), President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) instructed regional heads to utilize two percent of the General Transfer Fund (DTU), comprising the General Allocation Fund (DAU) and the Revenue Sharing Fund (DBH), to overcome the impact of inflation due to the increase in fuel prices.

"We will use the Regional Incentive Fund (DID) for regions that can handle inflation. We will use BPS (Indonesia Statistics) data (to observe) the (regions') ability to stabilize prices. We will provide incentives for local governments whose inflation is lower than the national level," the minister elaborated.

The ministry has also issued Ministerial Regulation No. 134 / PMK.07 / 2022 on Mandatory Spending for Handling the Impact of Inflation in 2022, which requires local governments to distribute two percent of the General Transfer Fund for social assistance, which is targeted for motorcycle taxis (ojek), micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and fishers, as well as for job creation purposes and subsidy for the public transport sector.

"We will continue (the efforts to control inflation). Mr. President and Home Affairs Minister have highlighted the use of unexpected funds that still (remain at) Rp9.5 trillion; (while the amount of) DTU, DAU, and DBH are at around Rp2.7 trillion," she said. (Antaranews)

Presidential Staff (KSP) Chief Moeldoko  highlighted the important role of culture in restoring the world, as the message reflected in the G20 Culture Ministers' Meeting (CMM) in Borobudur Temple area, Magelang, Central Java, September 11-13.

"Indonesia encourages the role of culture in the recovery of the world in accordance with the theme of our presidency, 'Recover Together, Recover Stronger.' And togetherness is the key," Moeldoko noted in a statement here on Tuesday.

Moeldoko considered the G20 CMM at the Borobudur Temple area as a dialogue towards a new civilization.

He underlined that the COVID-19 pandemic afflicting the world for over the past two years had given rise to a new order of civilization and encouraged the emergence of an adaptive outlook towards change.

"Thus, culture is one of the right ways to achieve world recovery and towards a new civilization together and in mutual cooperation," Moeldoko remarked.

Moeldoko said Borobudur Temple was selected as a location for the G20 CMM since the area is a world cultural heritage as well as one of the world's wonders with various interesting aspects in it, not only in terms of the temple building but also the variety of people and cultures.

The KSP chief remarked that the reliefs at the Borobudur Temple can be a window for the world and to witness a civilization where people can live in harmony with the universe.

Meanwhile, the people and culture around Borobudur reflect the intersection of the four civilizations that formed and gave rise to the Borobudur Temple.

"We can all learn sustainable living practices from Indonesian traditions as an answer to the challenges of recovering health, economic, and environmental problems," Moeldoko remarked.

CMM G20 carries the theme of "Culture for Sustainable Living," with several priority discussion agendas, including the role of culture as an enabler and driver of sustainable development as well as the economic, social, and environmental benefits of culture-based policies.

During the CMM G20, several cultural performances were showcased in the Borobudur Temple area and its surroundings, including the new media festival "Indonesia Bertutur", the G20 Orchestra, the Cultural Carnival, and the Giant Meeting (General Assembly), which involved 2,500 artists, cultural artists, as well as the Indonesian and international community.

CMM G20 also held Ruwatan Bumi (Earth Healing Ritual), which is a combination of ceremonial rituals presented in contemporary performances involving traditional elders and vocal-based art groups from various regions in Indonesia.

In the meantime, G20 is an international forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union that work together to handle major issues. Indonesia is holding the G20 Presidency this year. (Antaranews)

Sri Lanka should improve human rights and strengthen institutions to tackle the humanitarian challenges that have sprung from its worst financial crisis in seven decades, a top U.N. Human Rights official said on Monday.

U.N. member states and international financial institutions should support Sri Lanka as it tries to assist millions struggling with food, fuel, power and medicine shortages, said Nada Al-Nashif, U.N. Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights.

"I encourage the new government to embark on a national dialogue to advance human rights and reconciliation and to carry out the deeper institutional, democratic and security sector reforms needed to restore the independence of key institutions, to combat impunity, to prevent the recurrence of human rights violations, and to tackle the economic crisis," Al-Nashif told the 51st Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

She also urged Sri Lanka's new government led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to end the use of security laws to arrest protest leaders who helped oust former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in July.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry told the same meeting the government was committed to working with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on improving human rights, but would object to any international judicial intervention that it sees as anti-constitutional.

Al-Nashif said Sri Lanka must make more progress towards establishing a credible investigation into alleged war crimes during the civil war that ended in 2009 and promote demilitarisation of the island's north and eastern regions.

The United Nations and rights groups have accused the Sri Lankan military of killing thousands of civilians, mostly ethnic Tamils, during the final weeks of the war and have pressed for justice for the families of those who disappeared. In 2021, OHCHR launched a new 'accountability project' that could one day be used as part of a potential international judicial process.

On the latest protests following the economic crisis, Sabry said the government planned a truth-seeking mechanism to promote reconciliation, and referred to work on constitutional reform to promote anti-corruption measures and trim presidential powers. (Reuters)

The World Health Organisation expects a rise in COVID-19 in Ukraine to peak in October, possibly bringing hospitals close to their capacity threshold, WHO's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.

"We are now seeing an increase in cases of COVID-19 in Ukraine. We project that transmission could peak in early October and hospitals could approach their capacity threshold," Ghebreyesus told WHO'S Regional Committee for Europe conference in Tel Aviv.

"Oxygen shortages are predicted because major supply sources are in occupied parts of the country," he said.

Oxygen is essential for patients with a range of conditions, including COVID-19 and those with other critical illnesses stemming from complications of pregnancy, childbirth, sepsis, injuries and trauma.

Russia's February invasion of Ukraine has greatly impacted healthcare, with the WHO confirming more than 500 attacks on health infrastructure there, resulting in some 100 deaths. Ghebreyesus also said that the war could increase polio spread.

"We are also deeply concerned about the potential for the international spread of polio due to the gaps in immunization coverage and mass population movement linked to the war," he said.

Ukraine has low vaccination coverage for both COVID and polio, an infectious disease mainly affecting children that can cause paralysis and kill in rare cases. Two cases of polio were reported in Ukraine in 2021.

This year, Israel, Britain and the U.S have all reported polio transmission in major cities, raising concerns about the infection spreading more widely. (Reuters)