VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian government, through the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) and Japanese Embassy in Indonesia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Excavation, Collection, and Repatriation of the Remain of the Japanese Soldiers who Died on the Second World War in the Province of Papua and the Province West Papua, Indonesia, Tuesday (26/06). The agreement was signed by the Director General of Culture, Ministry of Education and Culture, Hilmar Farid and Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Masafumi Ishii at the Ministry of Education and Culture Office, Jakarta, Tuesday (06/25). The Director General of Culture, Ministry of Education and Culture Hilmar Farid said, the repatriation cooperation was an extension of the previous cooperation, by including a number of revisions.

"The excavation has already been done before, and now it's actually an extension of it, and of course there are some minor revisions that are in accordance with our current situation. So the discussion is quite long, and now Alhamdulillah, it is finished, completed, and the cooperation will continue," said Hilmar Farid.

Meanwhile, Japan's Ambassador to Indonesia Masafumi Ishii said that there are at least 20,000 troops in World War II who were still in Papua. The Japanese government will send a team to carry out the repatriation of these remains. (VOI / AHM)

Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi received a courtesy call by UN Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, H.E. Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix (25/6) They discussed a range of issues, including capacity building and training for peacekeepers and the role of women in peacekeeping missions.

USG Lacroix appreciates Indonesia's leadership and contribution in UN peacekeeping operations.

Innovations from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), named PetaBencana.id, won first place in the category of Ensuring Integrated Approaches in Public Sector Institutions at 2019 UNPSA organized by the United Nations (UN).

Minister of Administrative Reform and Bureaucratic Reform (PANRB) Syafruddin received a trophy and certificate accompanied by PANRB Ministry of Public Service Deputy Diah Natalisa and representatives from BNPB, Sestama BNPB Dody Ruswandi and Innovator Yayasan PetaBencana.id Mahardika, at Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, Azerbaijan On Monday (6/24).

"Congratulations on the award that BNPB has received, hopefully this innovation can continue to be developed and useful for the people of Indonesia," Syafruddin said after the event.

The PANRB Minister considered that this award was concrete evidence that the Indonesian nation was increasingly responsive to the progress of public services. With this award, continued the Minister of PANRB, Indonesia is increasingly recognized by other nations through UNPSA.

The participation of innovations from Indonesia in UNPSA has been carried out since 2014, by presenting five innovations as finalists. In 2015, there were two runners up and three finalists in the UNPSA. Three years later, namely 2018, the EDAT System won the prestigious event. In 2019, an innovation from Indonesia by BNPB again won the UNPSA. "This is a momentum so that Indonesia is increasingly valued in the world," Syafruddin continued.

PetaBencana.id is a free website-based platform that produces spatial visualization of disaster information in real time. This platform utilizes the use of social media and instant messaging during disaster events to collect and filter the current conditions confirmed by residents in the locations around the incident

The platform, formerly PetaJakarta.org, was developed by BNPB with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USAID, Pacific Disaster Center (PDC), Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) and BPBD DKI Jakarta. During a flood in Jakarta 2017, this platform can quickly collect flood data and information quickly and realtime. At that time, thousands of people reported flooding and PetaBencana.id was accessed by more than 500 thousand users in less than 12 hours, so the impact of the disaster was quickly mapped.

When weather patterns become increasingly unpredictable, cities in Indonesia are routinely faced with the challenges of extreme weather events. Lack of access to valid and real-time information results in the ability for BNPB to create innovations that serve to map disaster areas and predict conflicts that will arise.

By providing valid disaster information, it allows people to save themselves and share that information. PetaBencana.id utilizes all residents, to participate in this platform through social media and instant messaging. The power of social media is used to get reports of disaster events quickly. In accordance with the principles and principles, disaster management must be carried out quickly and precisely.

This platform is designed to operate together with other existing platforms, such as messaging applications, social media, and short messages. This innovation is intended for the general public, especially the lower middle class and the community with limited access to facilities. Since its launch in December 2015, PetaBencana.id has been accessed 737,102 times by 361,478 users.

Before being proposed to UNPSA, the PANRB Ministry held a Public Service Innovation Competition (KIPP) and continued to provide assistance. PetaBencana.id innovations participated in KIPP in 2017 and successfully entered the Top 99 Public Service Innovations. ( Ministry of PANRB )

The Japanese government will continue to repatriate the remains of its soldiers who died in Papua in the fight against the United States during World War II. The Embassy of Japan signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Indonesia's Education and Culture Ministry with regard to the repatriation, in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The process would include the search, collection and identification of the remains, and the cremation before it is transferred to Japan to the families.

The repatriation of remains was being conducted earlier but had been halted for four years, Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Masafumi Ishii said.

Now the process can be restarted and the remains can be transferred to Japan, he said.

The excavation of remains would be important for research on his country's culture, according to Ishii.

Despite the difficulties in identifying them, if possible, the soldiers' remains would be handed over to their families, he said.

The cooperation to repatriate the Japanese soldiers' remains is a continuation of the previous cooperation that has been revised, the Director General of Culture of the Education and Culture Ministry, Hilmar Farid said.

"This is the signing of cooperation between the Indonesian government, in this case, the Education and Culture Ministry, and the Embassy of Japan, on the excavation of the remains of Japanese soldiers who died in the World War II, especially in Papua," Farid said.

Other agreements related to the repatriation was one on the establishment of a World War II monument (April 7, 1993), and another on the access to collect and repatriate remains of Japanese soldiers who died in World War II in Papua (November 20, 2013). (ant)