VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Labor Minister Ida Fauziyah and UMI Chancellor Prof. Basri Modding during a gathering in Makassar on Friday (03/19/2021)

Labor Minister Ida Fauziyah is upbeat about the Indonesian Muslim University (UMI) Makassar producing human resources that are ready to work.

"We just need to synergize the job market with the UMI alumni," Fauziyah stated as quoted in a press release from that university here on Saturday.

The minister pointed to the major impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment in Indonesia, including causing an increase in the number of unemployed.

The minister is optimistic that the university would not contribute to new unemployment."Hence, the efforts we need to undertake are link and match between the education sector, business sector, and the industrial sector. Let us together prevent new unemployment through various ways that we have," she affirmed.

During the visit to UMI on Friday, Fauziyah also conveyed the need for universities to hold job fairs.

"Through this effort, we can together see job opportunities both at home and abroad," the minister stated//ANT

A worker moves a consignment of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines at the PT Bio Farma complex in Bandung, West Java, on March 8, 2021. (ANTARA FOTO/NOVRIAN ARBI)

The Indonesian government will begin distributing AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccines from next week to support the national vaccination program, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has informed.

"Next week, we will begin distributing the AstraZeneca vaccines," he said during an online press conference held by the Committee for COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery on Friday.

The government had suspended the distribution of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccines following a report on its side-effects.With the results of a study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), the British Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), and the European drugs authority showing that the vaccine is safe for use, the government has now decided to restart distribution of the AstraZeneca vaccines.

"Insya Allah (God willing), we will begin distributing and using AstraZeneca vaccine next week," Sadikin said.

The Health Ministry, the Drug and Food Control Agency (BPOM), and the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) will soon issue a technical guidance on the use of AstraZeneca's vaccine.The MHRA had announced a review of several thromboembolic events in people who received AstraZeneca jabs in the United Kingdom.

The agency said the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19 outweigh the risks and has recommended the use of the vaccine.

Indonesia received 1.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine under the COVAX facility, the global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, on March 8 this year//ANT

Director general of climate change at the Environment and Forestry Ministry, Ruandha Agung, making a statement on reducing greenhouse emissions at an online press conference in Jakarta on Friday. (ANTARA/Prisca Triferna)

The Indonesian government will not revise its target for reducing greenhouse emissions as it is considerably realistic, director general of climate change at the Environment and Forestry Ministry, Ruandha Agung, has revealed.

The government has stated that it is targeting to cut greenhouse emissions 29 percent by 2030 and by up to 41 percent with international aid, Agung said during an online press conference here on Friday.

According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the national targets for greenhouse emission reduction must be logical, realistic, and in line with its conditions, he added.

“This is our capability, if we try to improve our contribution from the energy sector at 50 percent, can we immediately take the action, like phasing out the coal, I do not think we can,” he observed.

Countries have been asked to propose their updated national action plans on climate, including for greenhouse reductions, as part of their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), ahead of the climate change conference in Glasgow, England on November, 2021.The Indonesian government has said it will not revise its target for cutting greenhouse emissions in its NDC.

“We are sure that the target can be realistically reached through some efforts, particularly national funding besides the international one,” Agung explained.

The updated Indonesian NDC document provides a more detailed explanation in terms of adaptation and implementation as well as the new commitment on the management of seas and wetlands and the adaptation program for climate change, he added//ANT

Director general of climate change control at the Environment and Forestry Ministry, Ruandha Agung Sugardiman, addressing a press conference here on Friday. (ANTARA/Prisca Triferna)

The Environment and Forestry Ministry is preparing three scenarios involving energy transition as part of long-term strategies to curb greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change.

Indonesia is in the process of completing its long-term strategy (LTS), ahead of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, the United Kingdom on November 1-12, 2021, director general of climate change control at the Environment and Forestry Ministry, Ruandha Agung Sugardiman, said at a press conference here on Friday.

"We have at least three scenarios — first extended NDC or Current Policy Scenario (CPOS), (second,) Transition Scenario (TRNS) only in the energy sector; and third, Low Carbon Scenario Compatible (LCCP), with the target of the Paris Agreement," he informed.In the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sectors, the CPOS scenario will target lowering and bringing greenhouse gas emissions closer to zero by 2050, while under the LCCP scenario, the government will target achieving negative emissions by 2050, he elaborated.

In the energy sector, energy transition has been designed using the CPOS scenario, but without energy system transformation, Sugardiman said.

The TRNS envisages energy system transformation focusing on power plants, though the change is not aggressive, he noted. LCCP involves energy transformation focusing on transportation and power plants, he added."This will offer a chance for investment and the like to develop in the direction, how we move to low carbon emission in the future," he said.

Indonesia’s LTS also includes options for nuclear energy and hydrogen, he said. It has also prepared renewed documentation on Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for COP26, he added.

"There has been no change in the target. Indonesia will continue to defend the target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 29 percent in 2030 on its own and 41 percent with international help," he said//ANT