VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta -  Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) thanked local farmers for their hard work in maintaining domestic rice supplies in the midst of the El Nino phenomenon.

"Thanks to our farmers' hard work, supplies in markets and rice stocks in our warehouses remain sufficient in facing the dry season. Thank you to all farmers in Indonesia," Jokowi said on his Instagram account in Jakarta on Sunday.

He stated that many parts of the world, including Indonesia, are facing the El Nino phenomena which have seriously affected the water supplies and agricultural productivity.

However, amid the threat of this climate pattern, Indonesian agriculture remains productive, Jokowi added.

Speaking after inspecting State Logistics Agency (Bulog's) warehouses two weeks ago, he said that Indonesia's national rice stocks for this month reached a total of two million tons, higher than around 1.2 million tons in normal situations.

At the 2023 National Farmer's Day, President Jokowi posted an image showing various illustrations of agricultural activities in Indonesia, such as farmers harvesting grain and fruit, farmers picking tea shoots, farmers working on rice fields, and the use of advanced technology in the agricultural ecosystem.

The image also includes the phrase Happy National Farmer's Day.

According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, the National Farmer's Day which is celebrated every September 24, begins with the publication of Basic Agrarian Law on September 24, 1960. Thus, today Indonesia celebrated 63 years of farmers' struggle. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - The Putussibau Immigration Office in Kapuas Hulu District, West Kalimantan Province, has established a foster village in Badau Subdistrict near the Indonesia-Malaysia border area to help prevent human trafficking cases.

"We conduct public awareness campaigns for residents of the foster village to enable them to comprehend the overseas employment procedures and immigration regulations," said Head of the Technology, Information, Intelligence, and Law Enforcement Unit at the office Joenari Anthony Marpaung.

Marpaung also appealed to the villagers to support the human trafficking prevention efforts.

"We hope the villagers will actively join the human trafficking prevention efforts," he said here Sunday.

Meanwhile, Head of the Kapuas Hulu Manpower, Industry, and Transmigration Office Elisabet Roslin said the foster village program would help village head and personnel understand immigration procedures for migrant workers.

Therefore, both village authority and villagers could actively join the human trafficking prevention efforts, Roslin said.

In helping crack down on human traffickers, Hendra Wijaya, a police officer who joined the Putussibau Immigration's Foster Village Program, called on the villagers to assist the police duty of law enforcement.

"We hope the villagers are willing to file reports if they find human trafficking cases in their neighborhood area," he added.

It is noted that human trafficking has become a serious issue at regional and global levels.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's (UNODC's) Global Report on Human Trafficking (2022), the ratio of the number of human trafficking victims in the East Asia region, including Indonesia, had reached 0.34 victims per 100 thousand population in 2020.

The UNODC data refers to the number of victims officially detected and recorded by the authorities, so the actual figure could, in fact, be higher.

According to teh UNODC, the East Asian countries included Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Mongolia, Japan, and China. Meanwhile, the Pacific countries, include Fiji, Palau, Tonga, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Micronesia, Australia, and New Zealand.

The report showed that most of the human trafficking victims in the East Asian and Pacific region, reaching 54 percent, are exploited for forced labor, while 38 percent were sexually exploited, including the practice of prostitution, and the other eight percent were exploited in other forms, with victims ranging from children to adults. (Antaranews)

VOInews, Jakarta: Indonesia hopes that the Summit of the Future meeting can provide real and concrete results. For this reason, Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi considers the importance of reforming the multilateral architecture is currently very important to do. This was conveyed when attending the Summit of the Future (SoTF) Preparatory Ministerial Meeting held on the sidelines of the High Level Week of the 78th UN General Assembly Session in New York, Thursday (21/9/2-23).

On that occasion, he emphasized the importance of the SoTF meeting to ensure peace for all. According to her, peace can only be achieved if there is a strong peace infrastructure.

"The peace infrastructure includes: consistent adherence to the UN Charter and international law; commitment to peaceful conflict resolution; strong multilateral cooperation; inclusive regional cooperation; reform of the UN Security Council to be more transparent, democratic, and effective; and maintaining peace through strengthening PKO," she said.

Retno also emphasized the importance of ensuring prosperity for all. Retno emphasized that the world needs a multilateral trading system that is open, fair and non-discriminatory, that respects the right to development of developing countries, that hears the voices and interests of developing countries, and that is inclusive of the global financial system.

Furthermore, the Minister added that the multilateral trading system must promote a green and sustainable economy with a large role for technology and innovation. The multilateral trading system must also be able to create a resilient global economy, among others through strengthening the global health architecture, food and energy security, financial stability and the digital economy.

In closing, the Indonesian Foreign Minister reiterated that the Pact of the Future must ensure peace and prosperity for all, and must ensure a better multilateral architecture.

"This joint effort must be based on the principles of collaboration, solidarity, and win- win solutions," she said.

The Summit of the Future is a high-level conference to be held in 2024 with the aim of strengthening multilateral cooperation and promoting global consensus to address current and future challenges. The Summit of the Future Preparatory Ministerial Meeting was attended by Ministers from UN member states. (VOI/Andy)

VOInews, Jakarta: Indonesia, as Chair of ASEAN, opened the High-Level Meeting "Fostering Partnerships for our Common Future: Enhancing Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships to Accelerate the SDGs in ASEAN" in New York, Wednesday (20/9/2023). In addition to Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi, the Opening Session was also attended by the Prime Minister of Thailand, the President of Timor-Leste, and the Executive Secretary of UN-ESCAP.

As ASEAN Chair, Retno said, Indonesia emphasized that inclusive partnership to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remains a priority under the theme "ASEAN Matters: Epicenter of Growth". Despite many challenges as ASEAN Chair in 2023, Indonesia continues to advance the region as a global epicenter of growth.

"Through strengthening regional resilience and shaping the regional development agenda," Retno said in a statement received by Indonesia Window here on Friday (22/9/2023).

Partnerships in the fields of health architecture, food and energy security, and financial stability will protect the region from future shocks that can hinder the achievement of the SDGs. "This partnership is the only way to ensure that the region is the epicenter of growth," Retno said.

Foreign Minister Retno said that the future of ASEAN must be green, sustainable and inclusive for ASEAN people, through the energy transition in the region. ASEAN's economic future is also digital through the ratification of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, which is expected to accelerate the achievement of SDGs in the region.

The High-Level Meeting is part of the High-Level Week series of the 78th UN General Assembly Session and one of several ASEAN-related activities in New York. ASEAN Deputy Secretary General, and several Thai NGOs were also involved as panelists in this meeting. (VOI/Andy)