VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin regretted that the implementation of an electronic-based government system (SPBE) or e-government in Indonesia is still low compared to countries in the Southeast Asia region (ASEAN).

"Indonesia is ranked 88th out of 193 countries. We have to admit that this position is still behind compared to other ASEAN countries," said the Vice President when he opened the 2020 National Personnel Coordination Meeting organized by the State Civil Service Agency (BKN) online, Thursday.

This ranking was obtained in the e-government survey released by the United Nations (UN) in 2020, namely the e-Government Development Index or EDGI.

The Vice President said that the UN assessment standards should be used as a reference for government administrators in Indonesia to improve the quality of public services so they can compete with other countries.

"Starting from this, we must be able to identify and map precisely what are the shortcomings, and what potentials should be developed to catch up with these lags," he said.

Various efforts to catch up, said the Vice President, is by accelerating the development of digital infrastructure; drafting regulations, guidelines, and technical standards for digital government; as well as increasing the competence and skills of ASN in operating e-government services.

Improving the quality of human resources is an important key in the realization of digital transformation so that ASNs in Indonesia must be able to improve their digital literacy skills in providing public services.

"One of the important keys in digital transformation is the readiness of human resources, both from the aspects of knowledge, expertise, and work culture," he said.

EDGI, published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, notes the level of adoption and implementation of e-government by various countries.

The survey was prepared over two years to see how digital governance can facilitate integrated policies and services in the UN's 193 member states.

Of the 193 UN countries that received the EDGI 2020 assessment, the first rank with the best e-government was won by Denmark; followed by South Korea, Estonia, Finland, Australia, Sweden, England, New Zealand, America, the Netherlands, Singapore, Iceland, Norway, and Japan.

Meanwhile, in the ASEAN region, the best SPBE implementation was achieved by Singapore (11th place), Malaysia (47th), Thailand (57th), Brunei Darussalam (60th), the Philippines (77th), Vietnam (86th), Indonesia (88th), Cambodia (124th), Myanmar (146th) and Laos (167th). (antaranews)

President Joko Widodo said that the target of sustainable development goals (SDGs) should not be lowered even though the challenges faced are increasingly difficult due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This challenge should not dampen our enthusiasm and should not lower our SDGs target. We have to find new ways, look for new breakthroughs so we can take a leap," he said in his video remarks at the Annual Conference on Indonesia's 2020 Sustainable Development Goals which was held virtually monitored in Jakarta, Thursday.

He said that innovation to achieve the SDGs target must be continued.

Government officials and other stakeholders must find ways that are more effective and efficient and oriented towards optimal development results.

The President also encouraged the optimal use of science and technology. Researchers, academics, and practitioners are expected to continue to work together to achieve development results.

"We must synergize the wealth of knowledge, it takes seriousness to share and synergize with each other. It takes a clear agenda in every forum like this with clear targets," said Jokowi.

The Head of State asked the Minister for National Development Planning / Head of Bappenas, Suharso Monoarfa, to prepare a sustainable national orchestration so that the utilization of science and technology can be optimal for policymaking and program implementation.

"I am waiting for all concrete recommendations from ladies and gentlemen that we can use as a reference to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs targets," he said.

The SDGs have 17 goals and 169 targets which are expected to be achieved by 2030. SDGs are a global action plan agreed upon by world leaders, including Indonesia, to end poverty, reduce inequality, and protect the environment. (Antaranews)

The World Health Organization said on Thursday that China had welcomed an international team of investigators into COVID-19 expected to travel to the country in early January.

Babatunde Olowokure, the WHO’s regional emergencies director in the Western Pacific, told a news conference that the organisation was in talks with Beijing over where the investigators would travel to within the country.

“WHO continues to contact China and to discuss the international team and the places they visit,” Olowokure told the streamed news conference.

“Our understanding at this time is that China is welcoming the international team and their visit...This is anticipated, as far as we are aware, to happen in early January,” he said.

On Wednesday, a WHO member and diplomats told Reuters the international mission led by the WHO was expected to go to China in the first week of January to investigate the origins of the virus that sparked the COVID-19 pandemic.

The United States, which has accused China of having hidden the outbreak’s extent, has called for a “transparent” WHO-led investigation and criticised its terms, which allowed Chinese scientists to do the first phase of preliminary research.

Referring to the ongoing discussions with China over the trip, Olowokure said told the news conference: “These are of course important for us and to get an overall picture of how the investigation will go.”(reuters)

The United Nations endorsed five Indonesia-initiated resolutions at multilateral forums in the past two years, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said.

"At the initiative of Indonesia, five resolutions were adopted, both at the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly," she stated during a press briefing on Wednesday.

One of the resolutions was UNSC resolution number 2538 concerning Women in Peacekeeping Operations.

Four other resolutions were adopted at the UN General Assembly — ‘International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development 2021', 'Global Solidarity to Fight COVID-19’, ‘International Cooperation to Address Challenges Faced by Seafarers as a result of COVID-19 Pandemic to Support Global Supply Chains’, and ‘Global Health and Foreign Policy: Strengthening Health System Resilience through Affordable Healthcare for All’.

"The adoption of these resolutions serves as the closing contribution to the Indonesian

chairmanship of the Foreign Policy and Global Health Initiative for the year 2020," Marsudi said referring to the UN General Assembly resolution on ‘Global Health and Foreign Policy: Strengthening Health System Resilience through Affordable Healthcare for All’.

The resolution, the last Indonesia-initiated resolution to be adopted by the UN, encouraged UN member states to strengthen national health systems through affordable healthcare for all and improve health resilience as an integral part of vigilance for a state of emergency.

In addition, member states were asked to forge constructive partnerships with relevant stakeholders to ensure access to universal health coverage, recognize medical workers during the pandemic, and support the funding for access to the COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT accelerator).

A sustainable and innovative health funding policy was also among the issues mentioned in the resolutions.

"(The five resolutions) are other than those serving as extended mandate or those resulting from discussions led by Indonesia on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement or G77," the minister said.

Citing an example, she said, Indonesia led a discussion on Afghanistan, as a ‘co-penholder’ at the UNSC, and a discussion on 14 resolutions at the UN General Assembly, both on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, G77, and under the framework of cooperation. (antaranews)