VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Norway is encouraging donors to a World Bank-administered fund for Afghanistan to agree to transfer $280 million to the World Food Programme and UNICEF, Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said on Monday.

The World Bank's board backed transferring $280 million to the U.N. agencies from the $1.5 billion Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), which was frozen after the Taliban took over the Afghan government in August, Reuters reported last week. read more

The 31 donors to the fund must approve the transfer. A World Bank spokesperson said ARTF donors met last Friday and agreed to make a decision in one week. 

During a joint interview with U.N. Development Programme chief Achim Steiner in New York, Huitfeldt told Reuters that she hoped donors would sign off on the transfer and that Norway "encouraged" them to do so.

"And we discussed the situation in Afghanistan during the NATO meeting last week, and also encourage NATO countries to continue to avoid a total economic or humanitarian collapse in Afghanistan," she said.

Afghanistan is struggling with a sharp drop in international development aid after the Taliban seized power, an economy and banking system on the brink of collapse, the COVID-19 pandemic and severe drought.

"If you cannot have enough food, you cannot educate your children, you cannot get health service for your family, you have no reason to live there anymore, you try to move on somewhere else," Steiner said.

The UNDP has projected that poverty may become nearly universal by mid-2022 - affecting more than 90 percent of Afghanistan's 39 million people.

"We face this particularly intense period between now and next year, where many Afghans are on the verge of giving up," Steiner said.

A challenge for the United Nations has been getting enough cash into Afghanistan to help deliver aid to millions of people on the brink of famine and prevent the breakdown of the economy and health and education services.

"The volume of finance that needs to be, in one way or another, mobilized by Afghanistan, is far larger than anything the financial system can cope with right now. So we are faced with an enormous constraint," Steiner said.

It's a problem that hasn't been solved yet, Steiner said.

He said the United Nations was considering flying in U.S. dollars, but warned that could only be a short term solution as it was "not the basis on which the scaling up of finance that is needed will happen." (Reuters)

Member of the House of Representatives (DPR) Zulfikar Arse Sadikin has called on the government to continue to follow measures applied for the COVID-19 Delta variant to control the recently emerging Omicron variant.

"We must persist with the same control strategy for the Delta variant to contain the Omicron variant," Sadikin said here on Tuesday.

Regional governments must continue to remain on the frontline of the national COVID-19 pandemic handling efforts that have drawn worldwide acclaim and been emulated in several countries, the legislator affirmed.

Sadikin is convinced that the government would continue to maintain a humane approach rather than pursue an aggressive approach in enforcing measures to contain the pandemic.

"The government is more responsive than aggressive in monitoring public activities," he noted.

Despite high public adherence to the enforced health protocols, the legislator observed that complacency among members of the public began to appear as the COVID-19 infection rate declined.

The most feasible COVID-19 prevention strategy is to implement strict health protocols, for which the authority must always remind residents to adhere to them to prevent contracting the infection, he remarked.

"This is our collective duty to prevent the COVID-19 third wave from occurring in future, as the newly detected virus variants are becoming more dangerous," Sadikin said.

Meanwhile, fellow DPR  member Dyah Roro Esti reminded that every sector in society has its role in promoting and reminding residents regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Moreover, as the top-down approach remains essential, regional governments must continue to monitor COVID-19 cases in their regions and enact measures to contain the infection," Esti said.

The legislator urged the authority to maintain strict health protocols enforced, for instance, by necessitating evidence of COVID-19 negative status obtained by PCR or antigen tests before attending a public event and enforcing health protocols during an event.

"The central and regional authorities must continue to disseminate information about COVID-19 through languages easily understood by residents," she said. (Antaranews)

An official with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology has underlined the importance of collaboration between academia and the industry to expedite efforts to make the nation's health industry independent and resilient.

"Through the Kedaireka platform, we are trying to connect the need or problems within the industry with innovations at universities," Nizam said in a written statement released here on Monday.

Collaboration between campuses and the industry is currently a necessity, he observed. This collaboration could produce various innovations that could resolve people's problems, he added.

The research potential and capability within universities could help the research and development process carried out by the industry, he said.

Not all industries have the capability to carry out research and development, he pointed out. In addition, a collaboration between campuses and the industry could reduce research costs, he said.

"Campuses have laboratories that the industry could utilize. Industry players will not have to commit to an expensive investment to conduct research," he remarked.

However, collaborations between campuses and the industry will require commitment and trust between the parties, he highlighted. Without them, collaboration would never happen, he said.

Hence, to facilitate the creation of a collaboration between universities and the industry, the ministry will provide a Matching Fund, he said.

"Every rupiah spent by the industry will be compensated by the Matching Fund with the same amount," Nizam elaborated.

He said the ministry is also committed to increasing budget allocations to expedite the collaboration between campuses and the industry for strengthening innovation.

Earlier, on a separate occasion, Nizam had said that many graduates from the Bangkit (Revive) program, a career readiness program that connects universities with the industry, are now working in multi-national corporations.

"Which is why you should not miss the opportunity to participate in this program," he affirmed.  (Antaranews)

The government is continuing to expedite efforts to vaccinate vulnerable groups and children to limit the potential spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, has said.

"In this case, because many children are also affected, the vaccination of children needs to be pushed," he said in an official statement after a meeting at the Presidential Palace on Monday.

The President has also asked for the preparation of booster vaccinations so that they can be administered from January 2022, Hartarto said. The delivery of booster vaccinations will be regulated by the Health Ministry, he informed.

"So, we are finalizing the PBI-based vaccine and also the non-PBI vaccine," he said.

Currently, the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has been detected in 45 countries, he noted. It has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to request genome sequencing, limit community activities, and hasten the vaccination of vulnerable people, he said.

In preparation for the year-end holidays, the President has asked that the number of people participating in activities be capped at 50, Hartarto informed. The policy will be adjusted to the WHO's advice, stipulated in the regulations set by the Home Affairs Ministry, he said.

"However, the activities will be detailed. So, the maximum activity is at the mall, then for restaurants a maximum of 75 percent (capacity), and 75 percent (capacity) for various activities. However, there is a limit on the number, which is capped at 50 people, and those who may travel are those who have been vaccinated," he elaborated.

The minister said that the meeting also discussed the preparation of G20 activities in Bali, which would commence soon. The health protocols and a bubble system will be imposed at meeting places and other locations, he added.

"There will be a health protocol in a bubble, and the application of the bubble will be carried out at hotel locations where meetings, side events (take place), and (we will) use the PeduliLindungi application, and all participants will undergo antigen test every day," he said.

As of December 3, 2021, the National Economic Recovery program budget has reached Rp513.1 trillion or 68.6 percent, he informed.

Of the budget, Rp140.52 trillion or 65.4 percent will be distributed to health clusters, Rp142.63 trillion or 76.4 percent to the social protection sector, Rp80.68 trillion or 68.4 percent to priority programs, and Rp85.50 trillion or 51 percent to MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises).

"Most of them are from the corporate sector whose PPs are being prepared, while the MSMEs have been relatively implemented. Then, business incentives have reached Rp63.84 trillion or 101 percent. For testing, tracing Rp3.11 trillion or 69 percent. For therapeutic incentives for health workers compensation is 80 percent, for vaccination 28.77 percent, Rp77 trillion, and social security is at Rp142.63 trillion," he elaborated. (antaranews)