VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail sought greater engagement and collaboration to ascertain that women from all strata of society can be the vanguard for tackling corruption. "(More engagement and collaboration is needed) to ensure women from all walks of lives have the ability to be at the forefront and centre in our societies to fight corruption,” Wan Azizah stated.

The call was made by Wan Azizah while addressing delegates at an APEC symposium this week in Putrajaya, Malaysia, as noted in a written statement issued by the APEC Secretariat received here on Thursday.

The symposium, organized by the APEC Anti-Corruption and Transparency Working Group and Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy, laid emphasis on advancing the gender perspective and women’s empowerment in the fight against corruption.

"Having been in active politics, not by design but by default for the last two decades, I have witnessed and experienced a whole discourse of women and the need for our empowerment to fight corrupt regimes and practices," Wan Azizah affirmed.

The impact of corruption is far-reaching and devastating. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the impact of corruption on women can be greater, especially when the currency of bribes comes in the form of sexual extortion.

Corruption in the business regulatory sector also distorts access to credit for women entrepreneurs.

To this end, the Malaysian deputy prime minister highlighted the role of education, advocacy, and awareness programs to boost women’s participation at the community level.

Furthermore, Wan Azizah stated that a sound understanding of the rights and existing laws play a central role in building an ecosystem that does not tolerate corruption.

"For us to have an effective plan to fight corruption faced by women, we need an intensive, bottom-up approach of engaging women from various stratum of societies," she emphasized.

"Establishment of clear lines of whistle-blowing and safe spaces for women to report corruption with clear channels for redressing incidents is central to this effort and initiative," she explained.

Wan Azizah reiterated Malaysia’s commitment to fighting corruption and empowering women to lead this effort, including the launch of 115 initiatives under Malaysia’s anti-corruption plan in 2019 and having a woman to lead the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Latheefa Koya, concurrently the chair of the APEC Anti-Corruption and Transparency Experts Working Group.

"At the APEC level, we need to advocate inclusivity by having more grassroots women in domestic anti-corruption programmes and policy development," Wan Azizah emphasized.

Moreover, she called for more cross-border engagement and sharing of best practices between women’s groups and agencies to facilitate capacity building.

Anti-corruption and law enforcement officials began their meeting in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on Wednesday (Feb 12) to encourage cross-border cooperation in the fight against corruption, bribery, and money laundering as well as advance measures in combating illicit trade. (ANTARA)

An Indonesian diplomat accentuated the importance of comprehensive efforts to boost nuclear security, with focus not solely on the use of nuclear material for peaceful purposes but also to meet military and weaponry needs.

Indonesian Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Vienna Ambassador Darmansjah Djumala made the statement during the 2020 International Conference on Nuclear Security (ICONS) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held at the UN Office in Vienna.

The conference, opened by IAEA Director General Rafael M. Grossi and held on February 10-14, 2020, brings together some two thousand delegates from 130 countries.

This year, ICONS managed to adopt a ministerial declaration that will serve as a guide to implementing the IAEA's policy of nuclear security activities.

Furthermore, the declaration reiterates the fundamental obligation of each nation to control all nuclear and radioactive materials under its respective purview. In the meantime, IAEA is required to always play a central role in facilitating international cooperation in nuclear security.

Indonesia, which supports the adoption of the declaration, has ratified several key international instruments, including the Convention on Physical Protection on Nuclear Material (CPPNM) and the International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (CSANT).

The support mirrors the concrete commitment and contribution of the Indonesian government to fortify the architecture of global nuclear security, Djumala stated.

Djumala, chief of the Indonesian delegation to the conference, remarked that despite nuclear security being vital, Indonesia views that the right of each country to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes is the main priority that cannot be obstructed.

The Indonesian delegation to the conference comprised Chief of the National Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN) Prof. Anhar Riza Antariksawan and Chief of the Nuclear Energy Supervisory Agency (BAPETEN) Prof. Jazi Eko Istiyanto.

ICONS is a ministerial-level meeting that serves as a platform for the exchange of views and experiences linked to the achievement of each country to strengthen nuclear security to prevent irresponsible parties, such as criminal and terrorist groups, from getting hold of nuclear and radioactive materials.

ICONS is held every three or four years since 2013 in Vienna. (ANTARA)

Indonesian Vice President Ma’ruf Amin received Turkish Ambassador to Indonesia Mahmut Erol Kilic at the Vice Presidential Office in Jakarta on Wednesday to discuss ways to enhance bilateral cooperation including campaigning for peaceful Islam.

"I invited him that we must echo it as several terrible ideologies have destroyed our understanding of Islam which is full of peace and understands one another," Kilic said at the meeting.

Kilic said Turkey and Indonesia share similarities in the traditional history of Islam as well as in applying Islamic teachings.

The two countries need to cooperate in echoing moderate Islam at a time when the world begins to downgrade its confidence due to acts of terror carried out in the name of Islam, he said.

"We are both moderate Islam but unfortunately, our voice is not heard much in this modern world. We will enhance cooperation in facing radicalism," he said.

In facing the acts of terror and radicalism, he said one of the workable solutions is spreading the understanding of moderate Islam to the international community. Hence, cooperation among countries in campaigning for peaceful and anti-war Islam must be intensified.

"We must be united to echo it together. Insya Allah (God willing), we will take good cooperative steps for global peace, not merely for peace in the Islamic world. Islam is peaceful. We must return it to the understanding," he said. (ANTARA)

The current onslaught of the coronavirus may inflict a potential loss of US$2.8 billion on Indonesian tourism, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama Kusubandio has predicted. "Since it (the coronavirus outbreak) is still going on, we will see the extent of losses only once the onslaught has stopped. If the average number of Chinese tourists (visiting Indonesia) is two million per year, the potential loss will be US$2.8 billion," he said after a coordination meeting with the transportation minister and airline operators at the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry in Jakarta Wednesday.

"The calculation is not as simple as what we will do after everything is over. But as we all know, the number of Chinese tourists (visiting Indonesia) reaches two million, or equivalent to US$2.8 billion in foreign exchange earnings. So the loss will depend on how long the virus outbreak will last," he said.

Normally, tourists book flights and hotel rooms from February to March for a summer vacation. "February to March is a booking period. Tourists are booking transportation and hotel rooms for the summer vacation. This will also have an impact on the summer vacation if, for instance, the coronavirus outbreak stops in April," he said.

However, the exact losses can be calculated if the impact of coronavirus is over although it will have a side effect, he added.

China tops the list of sources of tourist arrivals in Indonesia, with an estimated two million tourists and total spending of US$14 thousand per tourist, according to the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry.

The Indonesian government has set a target of foreign exchange earnings from the tourism sector for 2020 at US$21 billion, or US$1 billion higher than the 2019 realization of US$20 billion. (ANTARA)