VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Health Minister, Budi Gunadi Sadikin with East Java Governor, Khofifah Indar parawansa - ANT

As of Saturday, 1,616,165 people in Indonesia were inoculated against COVID-19, or an increase of 32,584 recipients, from the earlier day.

According to data from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force on Saturday, as many as 982,370 people out of 1,461,920 individuals have received the second dose of vaccination, up by 116,500, from the count on the previous day.

The 1.6 million people comprised healthcare workers, public service officers, elderly people, journalists, teachers, and athletes.

Indonesia has commenced the COVID-19 vaccination campaign since January 13, 2021, with the administration of China's Sinovac vaccine and priority being accorded to 1,468,764 healthcare workers. Public service officers, legal enforcers, and elderly people would next be given priority.

The country's total vaccination target is 181,554,465 people, or some 70 percent of Indonesia's population, in order to create herd immunity against the COVID-19 virus.The government has begun the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination program on February 17, 2021, with focus on traders at the Tanah Abang wholesale market, Central Jakarta.

To expedite the vaccination campaign, the Health Ministry has issued Ministerial Regulation No. 10 of 2021 on the vaccination program to be implemented in cooperation with companies willing to bear the vaccine costs for their employees.

The government announced its first confirmed COVID-19 cases on March 2, 2020.

As of Saturday (Feb 27, 2021), the tally of COVID-19 cases had reached 1,329,074, up by 6,208, from the previous day.

Indonesia recorded a total of 1,136,054 recoveries and death toll at 35,981 so far//ANT

European Union Strengthens Collaboration with Indonesian Universities - EU Embassy 

The European Union (EU), in collaboration with the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Indonesia (FISIP UI), held a public lecture today (26/2). Titled “The EU Strategy in Coping with Multidimensional Impacts and Challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic”, the public lecture was delivered by the EU Ambassador to Indonesia, H.E. Mr Vincent Piket. 

The virtual talk gathered lecturers and hundreds of students, and was attended by University of Indonesia Rector Prof. Ari Kuncoro, S.E., M.A., Ph.D, as well as the Dean of FISIP UI Dr Arie Setiabudi Soesilo, M.Sc.

"Ensuring quality education and investing in youth have been strong factors which connect Indonesia and the EU. For decades, the EU has supported Indonesian scholars, students –men but especially women – and universities through scholarships and university partnerships under the Erasmus plus programme,” said EU Ambassador to Indonesia Vincent Piket. “The exchanges and cooperation add quality to education and research, and they promote mutual understanding between our peoples,” Ambassador Piket added.

The EU also emphasises cooperation in research.

“Research and innovation are increasingly global, for the simple reason that they must offer solutions to global challenges without national borders, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU has supported research partnerships between EU and countries around the globe, including with researchers in ASEAN. So far, the EU has invested EUR 780 million into research and innovation programmes targeting the pandemic,” said Ambassador Piket.

The EU is also a strong supporter of the COVAX Facility, the global initiative that engages 90% of the world’s population and aims to ensure fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all.

“Through Team Europe, the EU and its Member States are providing 40% of the funding of the COVAX Facility with EUR 2.2 billion. This funding will bring us closer to achieving COVAX’s target to deliver 2 billion doses of vaccines to 92 low- and middle-income countries by the end of 2021, including Indonesia. In the first batch of the vaccines, which will be distributed by the COVAX Facility in Q1 and Q2 of 2021, Indonesia is expected to receive more than 13 million vaccines from COVAX,” added Ambassador Piket.

This public lecture is part of the EU Ambassadorial Talk series, aimed to address topical issues and increase understanding of EU views, policies and priorities. The series of lectures will continue throughout the year, involving various universities across Indonesia//Realese/NK-VOI

Myanmar's UN ambassador appeals to world body for action to end military coup - US News

Myanmar's UN Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, speaking for the country's elected civilian government ousted in a military coup on Feb 1, appealed to the United Nations on Friday (Feb 26) "to use any means necessary to take action against the Myanmar military" to restore democracy to the Southeast Asian country.

He addressed the 193-member UN General Assembly after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, warned that no country should recognise or legitimise the Myanmar junta and all efforts must be made to restore democracy."We need further strongest possible action from the international community to immediately end the military coup, to stop oppressing the innocent people, to return the state power to the people and to restore the democracy," Kyaw Moe Tun said to applause and praise from Western and Islamic counterparts.Schraner Burgener pushed for a collective "clear signal in support of democracy" as she sounded the alarm over the coup, urging "influential" countries to push the military to allow an independent assessment of the situation.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army seized power and detained civilian government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party after the military complained of fraud in a November election.

"Regrettably, the current regime has so far asked me to postpone any visit. It seems they want to continue making large-scale arrests and have been coercing people to testify against the NLD Government. This is cruel and inhumane," Schraner Burgener said.Guterres has pledged to mobilise enough international pressure "to make sure that this coup fails." The Security Council has voiced concern over the state of emergency, but stopped short of condemning the coup//CNA

The Tokyo Olympics Chief, Seiko Hashimoto - Times Magazines

The Tokyo Olympic Organising Committee is expected to add at least 11 women to its board as it expands the panel to 45 from 35, Fuji Network News (FNN) said on Saturday, citing unidentified sources.

The news comes after comments on Wednesday by Seiko Hashimoto, head of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, reiterating a goal for women to comprise 40per cent of the board.

With women now accounting for just seven, or 20per cent of the 34 places on the board, the appointment of 11 more would take their share to 40per cent.

Hashimoto replaced 83-year-old former prime minister Yoshiro Mori last week, following his resignation after a furore over sexist remarks about women.

The Olympics, delayed from last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, are set to run from July 23 to Aug. 8, and the Paralympics from Aug. 24 to Sept. 5//CNA