VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - Chair of the Governing Board UNESCO's Institute for Lifelong Learning Daniel Baril stated that Indonesia had demonstrated the finest example in its endeavors to promote lifelong learning.

"It was a very good decision to choose Indonesia as the host for this conference, as the country has been showing the proper ways to promote inclusive learning for all," Baril remarked during a press conference at the Inclusive Lifelong Learning Conference in Badung, Bali, on Monday.

In his speech, Baril drew attention to Indonesia's Pre-Employment (Prakerja) Card Program that has been providing vast benefits to some 17 million people since its launch in 2020.

He said that the program was highly beneficial, as it has helped a plethora of people get jobs.

He then put emphasis on the need to realize the shared goal found in article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, namely to provide indiscriminate access to education.

"This involves the right to learn for people of all ages. It should be noted that the educational journey does not end at schools or even higher education," he pointed out.

In order to build the culture of lifelong learning, people should not stop at simply recognizing the right, but they also need to individually and collectively prepare themselves to face crucial transitions of this age, he emphasized.

Baril stressed that the world is currently experiencing various dynamics, including labor market volatility, climate change, demographic shifts, and the rapid development in technology, such as the use of artificial intelligence.

"These developments have made lifelong learning more important than ever before," he noted.

At the conference, he also extended UNESCO's appreciation to Indonesia for its cooperation in holding the event. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - The General Elections Commission (KPU) has declared that 204,807,222 voters, including Indonesians residing abroad, have been registered in the final electoral roll (DPT) for the 2024 General Elections.

KPU Commissioner Betty Epsilon Idroos, at the national DPT recapitulation meeting held here Sunday, noted that the final number comprises 102,218,503 male voters and 102,588,719 female voters.

The registered voters spread in 514 districts and cities and 128 countries. Meanwhile, the number of polling places, overseas polling places, mobile ballot boxes, and postal voting points is set at 823,220.

Idroos said that 203,056,748 voters, comprising 101,467,243 male voters and 101,589,505 female voters, will vote in Indonesia.

She further said that there are 1,750,474 Indonesians who will vote abroad. The number comprises 751,260 male voters and 999,214 female voters.

With 35,714,901 registered voters, West Java is the province with the highest number of registered voters for the 2024 General Elections, followed by East Java, with 31,402,838 voters, and Central Java, with 28,289,413 voters.

Other than the three, North Sumatra, with 10,853,940 voters, and Banten, with 8,842,646 voters, are also among the provinces that have the highest number of voters.

Meanwhile, five provinces with the lowest number of voters are South Papua, with 367,269 voters; West Papua, 385,465 voters; Southwest Papua, 440,826 voters; North Kalimantan, 504,252 voters; and Papua, 727,835 voters. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - The Central Java Regional Police is committed to taking firm action against those involving in cross-border trafficking in persons by targeting Indonesian migrant workers, a police officer said.

"In handling the cases, we will coordinate with the National Police's Criminal Investigation Division (Bareskrim)," Deputy Chief of the Central Java Police' s Human Trafficking Task Force Senior Commissioner Johanson Simamora said in Semarang on Sunday.

The provincial police have so far handled 46 human trafficking cases, he said, adding that
the perpetrators are illegal worker recruitment agencies and individuals. 

"Their motives are still related to economy. The suspected perpetrators do not have permits to dispatch the job seekers," he said.

According to him, dozens of those arrested for allegedly involving in these human trafficking cases are executive officers of the unlicensed recruitment agencies. They have been named suspects.

Until now, he said, the police investigators still explore a possible involvement of a network in the various cases that had been uncovered.

Simamora, who is also the provincial police's director of General Criminal Investigation Department, said the task force that he leads has conducted the law enforcement against human traffickers in the past month.

Following the law enforcement operation, the task force personnel would evaluate their.works to determine what to do next. Whether prevention will be carried out or what depends on the orders of the National Police Headquarters," he said.

President Joko Widodo along with other ASEAN leaders had earlier committed to eradicating all forms of crimes of cross-border trafficking in persons.

The cross-border cooperation is not just related to exchanging information, but also efforts to improve law enforcement operations to arrest perpetrators staying abroad. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta: Borobudur Temple in Magelang District, Central Java, has the potential to attract many ASEAN tourists to visit, General Manager of PT Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur, Prambanan, and Ratu Boko Jamaludin Mawardi said.

"Especially, we receive support from the government policies. ASEAN tourists can enter Indonesia without visa," he said on Sunday.

Tourists only need to bring their valid passports to visit Indonesia within a few days and then return to their countries, he explained.

"It is very easy to visit Indonesia. They do not need to have a visa," he remarked.

Mawardi also said that in line with the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy's programs, countries in the Asian region which include those of ASEAN would still become the target of tourist visits to Indonesia.

"ASEAN remains the biggest contributor to foreign tourist visits to Borobudur. Therefore, our main target market areas are ASEAN and followed by regions in the Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and West Asia," he noted.

According to him, in terms of tourist visit numbers, ASEAN tourists had the highest number and followed by those of Europe, especially from countries in Western Europe such as Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and France.

While Malaysians and Singaporeans still dominate the foreign visitors of Borobudur Temple, he added.

He further conveyed that before the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Malaysians visiting Borobudur in 2019 was recorded at 15,065, followed by 9,549 Singaporean tourists.

The visits of tourists of these two countries were quite high due to direct flights from there to Yogyakarta. "This is a determining factor," he explained.

Mawardi hopes that in the future, the Indonesian Government will seriously work on the "pilgrim" issue, especially for countries with a Buddhist population base that could help increase the number of visits to Borobudur Temple.

"The government has designated Borobudur Temple as a spiritual destination, especially for Buddhists. This will be relevant as long as the door is opened, the big market is in the ASEAN region," he stated. (Antaranews)