VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

As a member of C category of Executive Council at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for the 2020-2021  period Indonesia can propose norms of shipping safety in trade. In addition, Indonesia can represent other countries which do not include at the IMO Executive council in terms of shipping security. It was said by Director General of Multilateral Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Febrian A. Ruddyard after the United Nations Day Commemoration, on Monday (Dec 2) at the Jakarta National Library.

“There are several things about IMO. Firstly about shipping safety.  Being a member of the IMO Executive Council of C category, we can be more involved in developing shipping safety norms in trade.  We also inject about the issue of sustainable development, the environment is also the issue of women empowerment in shipping issues. We include in C categorize because although we are not country which dominantly in the shipping sector, service providers and users, but we have a large maritime area where international sea traffic is certainly being a concern. Since including in the council we can do much more. Secondly, we can represent other countries outside the council to channel their concerns on shipping issues, said Febrian A. Ruddyard .

Furthermore, Indonesia had been elected to be a member of  the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council at the elections in Assembly, London, the United Kingdom on November 30. Moreover  the Indonesian Supreme Audit Board (BPK) also elected as an external member of the IMO auditor for the 2020-2023 period.  Indonesia was the first country  in Southeast Asia that elected as an external auditor at the IMO// (Nuke/TRS:AF)

The United Nations Day this year raised the theme ‘Indonesian heritage for global peace and sustainable development. Culture is an important part of the sustainable development goals in the UN agenda. This was said by Director and representative of UNESCO, Regional science bureau for Asia and Pacific Shahbaz Khan in his opening remark on the United Nations Day which was held at the Indonesian National Library on Monday, December 2, 2019.

“Sustainable development goals is not an easy task for all of us to reach them by 2030. We need decent work, we need sustainable cities, we need to reduce social inequality which are part of the 2030 agenda and very importantly is how to take care of environment, gender, and we have peaceful society and prosperous society. So sustainable development goals there are 17 of them and for me culture is the most important part from all of those goals. If we have reduce poverty maybe culture play very important role in creating creative industries. So we need to have good education where culture and education should be integrated together. And similarly with environment we cannot do it without culture so all of them is very important as culture is critical to achieved and effective of the implementation of SDG, Shahbaz Khan said. 

Shahbaz Khan added that once giving acknowledgement from UNESCO, a culture is automatically will become the world heritage that can be accessed not only by Indonesian people. The Indonesia leadership can give a model of sustainable development and peace through UNESCO. (VOI/NK/Trs.N/AHM)

Two external members of the Nobel literature prize committee quit on Monday after criticizing the scandal-hit Swedish Academy.

The 233-year-old Academy was forced to introduce several new measures after a sex scandal involving the husband of a former member escalated into a bitter row that meant it had to postpone the award for 2018.

External members were added to assist the Nobel committee in choosing prize candidates for the Academy to vote on.

Author Kristoffer Leandoer said he was leaving because he had "neither the patience nor the time" to wait for the committee to complete its reforms.

"The Academy and I have a different perspective on time, one year is far too long in my life and far too short in life of the Academy," he wrote in an article in Svenska Dagbladet.

Read also: Swedish Academy defends choice for 2019 Nobel literature prize

Leandoer said his decision was not linked to the decision to award the 2019 prize to controversial Austrian writer Peter Handke, for which the Academy has received criticism both domestically and internationally.

But Gun-Britt Sundstrom said in a statement published in Dagens Nyheter that the choice of Handke had been interpreted as if literature stood above politics and she did not share that view.

Handke has been heavily criticized for his portrayal of Serbia as a victim during the Balkan wars and for attending the funeral of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Milosevic died in 2006 in The Hague, where he was about to stand trial for war crimes.

The Academy confirmed that Leandoer and Sundstrom had left the Nobel committee, which until today was comprised of four members of the Swedish Academy and five external members.

"We are grateful for the significant effort they made during the year and we are now reviewing how the work of the Nobel Committee will be organised for the 2020 Nobel Prize in literature, " Mats Malm, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, said in a statement.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ambassador to Indonesia Mohammad Abdulla Al Ghfeli reaffirmed that deep bilateral relations between his country and Indonesia had been built under the principles of cooperation and mutual respect.

"The historical visit by His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Vice Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to Indonesia in July 2019, served as a milestone in the bilateral relations between the two countries," Abdulla Al Ghfeli stated at a function marking the 48th UAE National Day in Jakarta on Monday.

The visit has strongly prompted both nations to develop their cooperation into strategic partnership, he pointed out.

During the historical visit, 12 cooperation agreements were inked between both nations in addition to various investment agreements valued at US$9 billion.

On the occasion, the ambassador praised the successful visit by Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan to the UAE some time ago to follow up on the visit by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi to Indonesia in July 2019.

Abdulla Al Ghfeli also extended congratulations to the Indonesian government and nation over the inauguration of Joko Widodo and Ma'ruf Amin as the Indonesian president and vice president for the 2019-2024 period.

Indonesian Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian and many ambassadors from friendly countries were also present at the commemoration of the 48th UAE National Day. (ANTARA)