VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko met with the European Union’s Ambassador to Indonesia, Vincent Piket, at the State Palace in Jakarta on Friday (April 22, 2022). ANTARA/HO-Presidential Staff Office/rst - 

Indonesia will remain neutral and not side with any party regarding the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Presidential Chief of Staff, Moeldoko, has said.

Apart from adhering to the free and active politics principle, Indonesia also has a moral responsibility, as the G20 President, to not take political sides with any country, he added.

"Indonesia is facing a difficult situation to support Ukraine and impose sanctions on Russia. As the bearer of the 2022 G20 Presidency, Indonesia must welcome all countries' member(s). Indonesia does not side with anyone in this conflict," he remarked while receiving the European Union’s Ambassador to Indonesia, Vincent Piket, at the State Palace in Jakarta on Friday.

Indonesia remains in a position to support peace and resist all forms of violence by any party, he said. However, he expressed regret over the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

The purpose of Ambassador Piket’s meeting with Moeldoko was to discuss the concerns of European countries regarding the current global uncertainty in the economic and security sectors, triggered by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

"The European Union asks Indonesia to use its influence as the bearer of the 2022 G20 Presidency to put pressure on Russia to stop the war in Ukraine. Because sanction is one of the important keys to affect the conflict's escalation between Russia and Ukraine. Sanctions can open up opportunities for negotiations," Piket said in a statement.

Responding to this, Moeldoko said Indonesia will take note of the concerns expressed by all countries in the world. He also lauded global calls and the attention of partner countries to Indonesia.

This shows that Indonesia has a significant role and influence on the world stage, he added//ANT

Online book launching of "Sepasang Luka" -  

World Book Day which falls every April 23 is a momentum for increasing literacy to consistently encourage people to love reading and writing. The launch of the Anthology of Short Stories (short stories) “Sepasang Luka” is one of them. The book is written by 30 junior high school students, contains an outpouring of honesty from future generations regarding their injured mental and social conditions.

"Social injuries occur due to a number of things, such as rampant corruption cases, a sense of injustice that still often occurs, an unfavorable environment, to the influence of social media abuse," said Director of Media Pendidikan Cakrawala East Nusa Tenggara Gusty Rikano at the World Book Day Celebration Webinar. with the Indonesian Reading Ambassador, Friday, (22/04/2022).

In fact, they are the future generation of the nation. However, now they are a generation that is hurt and injured mentally and socially. Gusty added that their expressions of expressing their anxiety over what they felt were the greatest way to bandage a wound.

Another admiration was also voiced by the Motivating Teacher from West Nusa Tenggara, Purna Aprianti. How junior high school students already have a deep sensitivity to social life. There are character values ​​that should be contemplated and should be read by all stakeholders. 

“This article is amazing. It can be said as a critical book. Because sometimes adults often feel the most right. Sometimes we need to open our hearts to read their stories,” added Purna.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Friday (22/04/22), The Anthology of Children's Short Stories from Indonesia "A Pair of Wounds" is a product of the Java-Bali-NTB-NTT Indonesian Reading Ambassador Literacy Safari which took place from January 18 to April 10, 2022.

"There are hundreds of manuscripts submitted, and we did a strict selection," explained the Indonesian Reading Ambassador Gol A Gong.

The Head of the Center for Library Analysis and the Development of Reading Culture at the National Library of Indonesia, Adin Bondar, said that books have long been a barometer of the progress of the nation's civilization.

Barbara Tuchman, a historian from the United States once wrote that books are the bearers of civilization. Without history books, literature is silent, science is paralyzed, thinking is stuck. In short, books are the engine of changing windows of the world. The same thought was also expressed by the famous President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, who served in the period 1801-1809, who claimed that he could not live without books.

World Book Day is a moment of inspiration that reading is very important. Through books, there is a repetition of people's critical thinking. People who like to read will tend to be productive and innovative, and have social skills//VOI

Illustration: Medical worker using protective equipment while administering vaccine to a toddler in Karawaci Public Health Center, Tangerang City, Banten, Wednesday, May 13, 2020. (ANTARA/FAUZAN/my) - 

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin encouraged all female regional leaders to administer basic immunization packages for children in 2022.

"(This is) because the immunizations are mostly intended for children, who mostly are dear to a mother," Sadikin remarked while he delivered a press statement during a virtual event, as accessed from the Health Ministry's YouTube account from here on Friday.

The Health Ministry had set Bangka Belitung as a location for commemoration of the 2022 World Immunization Day, given the region's relatively high immunization rate.

The ministry had set a target of 22.5 percent for coverage of the basic immunization package in the first trimester of 2022. However, it was only capped at 14 percent at the time.

Bangka Belitung was one of the six places in Indonesia that exceeded the ministry's target in terms of basic immunization. Hence, Bangka Belitung was expected to motivate other regions to pursue the target.

He deemed the regional government's proactive participation as important in achieving the goal.

"If the regional government fully supports the basic immunization, then the targeted rate supposedly can be achieved," Sadikin noted.

Minister Sadikin opined that female leader figures could be expected to put in efforts to achieve the immunization target.

On the other hand, National Children Immunization Month would begin in May 2022 as a means to catch up with immunizations that were supposed to take place but were hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the program, two main events scheduled were measles and rubella vaccinations and basic immunizations for toddlers, who had yet to receive the complete basic immunization pack.

The program targets as many as 800 thousand children all over Indonesia who are at risk of contracting diseases, such as diphtheria, tetanus, measles, rubella, and polio, that could be prevented through vaccines.

The first phase of the National Children Immunization Month will be held in May 2022 in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, and Papua, while the second phase would follow on August 2022 in Java and Bali//ANT

Screenshot—Director general of information and public diplomacy (IDP) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Teuku Faizasyah, at the ‘Social Activity of the G20 Presidency of Indonesia's Energy Transition Priority Sector,’ held virtually on Friday (April 22, 2022). (Antara / Azis Kurmala) - 

Indonesia's G20 Presidency is seeking to provide benefits to developed and developing countries in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This is where we actually see Indonesia's role as very important. We want to make the Indonesian Presidency not only benefit the 20 largest economies, but also have an impact on other countries, especially developing countries," Director General of Information and Public Diplomacy (IDP) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Teuku Faizasyah said at the ‘Social Activity of the G20 Presidency of Indonesia's Energy Transition Priority Sector,’ held online on Friday.

Therefore, Indonesia has become very active in inviting representatives of developing countries to participate in G20 discussions, he added.

"Of course, as the G20 Presidency, Indonesia has the flexibility to set big themes," Faizasyah remarked.

Specifically, themes that provide benefits not only to the global community, but are in the national interests of Indonesia.

Therefore, the Indonesian G20 Presidency has chosen ‘Recover Together, Recover Stronger’ as its theme.

The three main priorities of Indonesia's G20 Presidency are global health architecture, digital-based economic transformation, and energy transition. These priorities are being used to set a new discussion agenda (flagship agenda) in the Working Group (WG) and Engagement Group (EG) Sherpa Track.

“If we go back to 1999, the G20 was established to respond to the economic crisis facing the world. The economic crisis occurred because of the global financial crisis at that time,” Faizasyah noted.

By building a spirit of cooperation and collective leadership, the G20 offered a solution to the financial crisis at the time.

“Then, we followed this forum in 2008 and 2009 due to the continuation of the financial crisis, the status of G20 has been upgraded to a meeting at the level of heads of government/state," he pointed out.

This shows that the G20 is truly an economic forum for addressing various global economic challenges, he said.

"Especially at this time, after two years, we have felt a very heavy impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic," Faizasyah added.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a slowdown in economic growth worldwide and created economic uncertainty.

Therefore, the momentum of the Indonesian Presidency provides a privilege.

"We understand that COVID-19 has caused a multidimensional crisis that started from a crisis in the health sector, then became an economic crisis, and in the end became a prolonged social crisis," Faizasyah said//ANT