VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, shared the agenda for fostering youth toward realizing the Golden Indonesia 2045 goal at the national working meeting of the Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals Association (ICMI) here.

The younger generation is the backbone of the nation and will bear great responsibility in realizing the nation's ideals, he said at the meeting on Saturday.

One of Indonesia's aspirations is to become an independent, sovereign, just, and prosperous country by 2045, when it celebrates 100 years of independence, he added.

"As a nation that has rich natural resources and extraordinary diversity, Indonesia has a big vision, namely Golden Indonesia 2045," he said.

He added that 2045 is 22 years away and the current young generation, especially those aged 18 and above, will be the leaders of the nation by then.

"When they are 35 years old and above, they will lead (assume leadership positions) in Indonesia. If we live until old age, we can witness it," he said.

Indonesia, with its current gross domestic product (GDP) of US$5 thousand per capita, is expected to become a developed country with a GDP of US$30,600 per capita.

Effendy said that Indonesia needs to boost its current GDP by 6 times to achieve the goal.

"We are not there yet, even though our current (economic) growth is relatively better compared to the 20 major countries," he explained.

Acting governor of South Sulawesi, Bahtiar Baharuddin, said that ICMI's national working meeting provided insights about the domestic political contestancy in 2024.

All presidential candidates were invited to share their strategies for building Indonesia at the forum.

Baharuddin said that the forum was held in Makassar as it is considered conducive and many national political figures have come from the city. (Antaranews)

VOINews.id, Jakarta: CEO of Special Olympics, Mary Davis said that the Asia-Pacific region is important for the development of the intellectually-disabled olympics. According to her, the region is full of "large countries", one of which is Indonesia.

“Yeah, this region (Asia-Pacific) is critical to the whole development of Special Olympics globally. It's got some of the largest countries in the world. If you look towards India, or Bangladesh, or Indonesia, Australia... so (does) large programs and some great programs as well," said Mary in a special interview with RRI Voice of Indonesia amid the 2023 Regional Leadership Conference (RLC) 2023 of Special Olympics Asia-Pacific in Jakarta, Saturday (04/11/2023).

With so many large countries in the Asia-Pacific, Mary mentioned the need for a Special Olympics program and strong leaders. He believes that strong programs and leaders from Asia-Pacific can be role models for other countries, especially smaller countries.

“So in terms of the expansion of the Special Olympics globally, it's really important that we have strong programs and strong leaders, in each of those countries, because they then can be role models for other countries, maybe smaller countries, in terms of developing and growing their programs," she continued.

Mary also said that this conference was the first to be held after the Covid-19 pandemic. Hence, she hopes that RLC 2023 can restore the strength of the parties involved and make the Special Olympics stronger.

"This region (Asia-Pacific), in particular, has suffered more and lost more coaches, volunteers, and athletes (during the Covid-19 pandemic). So, today's conference in Indonesia is about how we can grow back (the strength of coaches, volunteers, and athletes) better, bigger, and stronger," she added.

The 2023 RLC, which was attended by representatives of Special Olympics athletes, volunteers, and coaches throughout the Asia-Pacific, was held from Friday (03/11/2023) to Sunday (05/11/2023). The agenda included the delivery of strategic plans, presentations, and self-development for each participant in various sessions. Apart from that, there was also a cultural evening presented by Special Olympics Indonesia with the assistance of the Indonesian Ministry of Youth and Sports.

VOINews, Jakarta - Ambassador of Palestine to Indonesia Zuhair Al Shun commended the government and people of Indonesia for their contribution to helping the Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip.

"We are genuinely proud of your people, your government. Whatever the aid is, whatever the support is, will be more than enough to Palestine," Al Shun remarked after attending the sending off ceremony of Indonesian humanitarian aid for Gaza at the Halim Perdanakusuma, Jakarta, on Saturday.

On that occasion, the ambassador extended his appreciation to the Indonesian government and people for the assistance provided to the people of Palestine that have been suffering from the devastating war between Palestinian Hamas and Israeli forces.

He also expressed belief that the people of Indonesia would always stand with Palestine, and would never leave the Arab state alone in its fight for independence from Israeli occupying forces.

"Indonesia, as stated by His Excellency (President Joko Widodo), will always stand with Palestine and will not leave us alone," the ambassador remarked.

The people of Indonesia feel the struggle of the Palestinian nation, he added.

"They understand and fight by our side through diplomacy. It is certain that we will succeed and become free with the help of Indonesia, the largest Muslim country," he stated.

Earlier, on Saturday morning, President Joko Widodo personally sent off the Indonesian humanitarian aid dedicated for Palestinians in Gaza at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base.

In his speech, he emphasized that the aid serves as proof of Indonesia's genuine care for humanity.

"The humanitarian tragedy happening in Gaza is unacceptable and must be ended immediately. I would like to reiterate that Indonesia will always stand by the Palestinian nation," he stressed.

President Jokowi sent off the first batch of the aid, weighing 51.5 tons in total, that includes food, medicines, medical equipment, drinking water purifiers, and blankets.

As for the second batch of the aid, Indonesia is planning to deliver it in the next three or four weeks.

During the activity, the president was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, State Secretary Minister Pratikno, and Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, among others. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Several hundred students of Islamic boarding schools under the ownership of Pesantren Wahdah Islamiyah Foundation (YPWI) in Makassar City, South Sulawesi, have joined the world's solidarity for Palestine.

The students voluntarily participated in the fund-raising for Palestine by collecting Rp50,399,500 in donations, Manager of Event and Partnership of the Wahdah Inspirasi Zakat's Alms Agency (WIZ) Arsal Salama remarked.

Salama, here on Friday, lauded the schools that had joined the fund-raising movement for Palestine to help those in need in the besieged Gaza Strip, which is home to more than two million people.

Apart from donating funds, the students also performed prayers for the safety of Palestinians in Gaza and occupied West Bank whose lives are threatened by the brutal Israeli bombardment and Israeli settlers' attacks, he stated.

Meanwhile, Director of the Wahdah Inspirasi Zakat's Alms Agency (WIZ) Syahruddin remarked that his agency had collected Indonesian people's donations for Palestine and had gradually distributed staple food packages to those in need in Gaza through its local partners there.

Since the start of the Palestinian and Israeli war on Oct 7, he said WIZ had initiated to provide the affected Palestinians with food, medicine, and other logistic needs.

"We are deeply concerned with Palestinian civilians falling victim to the brutal bombardment of the Israeli occupation forces there. We are deeply saddened by what has been happening there," he said.

It is not easy to get access to Gaza for the humanitarian mission due to the ongoing Israeli bombardment. However, God Almighty paves the way for that mission, Syahruddin remarked.

Palestine and Israel's new armed conflict erupted again following a surprise attack by Hamas on Israel early in the morning of October 7.

Prior to the assaults by Palestinian liberation fighters, Israel had continued its closure of Gaza crossings.

Palestine's news agency WAFA reported on September 25 that the Israeli closure of Gaza crossings had worsened the living conditions of Palestinians in Gaza.

According to WAFA, the Palestinians had already suffered from the severe impacts of "more than 17 years of tight Israeli land, sea, and air blockades."

Al Jazeera quoted Hamas, which governs Gaza, as stating that its assault on Israel was "a response to the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence."

In response to the unprecedented surprise attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas and, according to Al Jazeera, pledged that the Israeli forces would "turn all Hamas hideouts into rubble." (Antaranews)