VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Dr. Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen, has strongly condemned the recent kidnapping of hundreds of schoolchildren in Nigeria, for which extremist group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility.

In a statement received in Jakarta on Wednesday, the OIC General Secretariat called for the unconditional release of the students and for their safe return to their families.

In his statement, Al-Othaimeen reiterated the OIC’s principled position against extremism and terrorism, and expressed solidarity with the efforts made by the authorities in northwest Nigeria to combat the phenomena.

On Tuesday, a man identifying himself as the leader of Nigeria's Boko Haram had released an audio message saying the Islamist group was responsible for the kidnapping of more than 300 students from an all-boys school in the northwestern state of Katsina.

Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden" in the local Hausa language, has waged an insurgency in the northeast of Nigeria since 2009, but has not previously claimed responsibility for any attacks in the area, Reuters reported.

In his message, Abubakar Shekau, the man claiming to be the group's leader, offered no proof to support his claim. Reuters was unable to verify the audio recording, and Nigerian authorities did not immediately comment on the report.

In a region where criminal gangs often rob and kidnap civilians for ransom, gunmen reportedly abducted boys from the Government Science School in Kankara town on Friday. Katsina state authorities said some students managed to escape, but around 320 remained missing. (Antaranews)

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has sought a more effective blueprint for accelerating development in Papua and West Papua provinces.

"We have to build a new system and design, a more effective way of working in order to be able to produce leaps in the advancement of welfare for the people of Papua and West Papua," Vice President Ma'ruf said at the Vice Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday.

At a meeting of the Steering Committee for the Integrated Team for the Acceleration of Welfare Development in Papua and West Papua Provinces, the Vice President asked his rank and file to immediately draft a new system so that it can be implemented from 2021.

The Vice President said the new design for the development of Papua and West Papua should emphasize a cultural approach, with priority accorded to seven customary areas.

"The priority targets are seven customary areas," he said.

To bring about development in the two eastern provinces of Indonesia, the government has issued Presidential Instruction (Inpres) Number 9 of 2020 concerning the Acceleration of Welfare Development in Papua and West Papua Provinces and Presidential Decree (Keppres) Number 20 of 2020 concerning the Integrated Coordination Team for the Acceleration of Welfare Development in Papua Province and West Papua Province.

During the meeting, the Vice President also spoke about the problem of poverty, which remains high in the two provinces.

"Therefore, we need to put this Inpres policy perspective into a new spirit and design for Papua, in accordance with the President's direction at the Papua meeting on March 11, 2020," he said.

The Vice President also stressed that the objective of the Presidential Instruction was to build advanced, prosperous, peaceful, and dignified communities in Papua and West Papua provinces.

"I need to reiterate that the rationale and purpose of this determination is to prioritize the improvement of the welfare of the people of Papua and West Papua," he said.

The meeting was attended by Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Minister of Home Affairs, Tito Karnavian, Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani, Minister of National Development Planning (PPN) and head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), Suharso Monoarfa, Presidential Chief of Staff, Moeldoko, head of the Secretariat of the Vice President (Kasetwapres), Mohamad Oemar, and Special Staff of the Vice President, Bambang Widianto. (antaranews)

The Indonesian government will reallocate the 2021 ministerial and institutional budget for the procurement of free COVID-19 vaccine for the public.

"I also instruct the finance minister to prioritize budget reallocation for the procurement of free vaccination," President Joko Widodo stated at the Merdeka Palace here on Wednesday.

"There is no reason for the public to not get vaccinated," he emphasized.

The head of state noted that the government had decided to provide free COVID-19 vaccine to the public after receiving several inputs from the community.

"After re-calculating the state’s financial standing, I can confirm that the COVID-19 vaccine would be offered free of charge to the public," he stated.

The head of state has instructed ministries and state institutions as well as local governments to accord priority to the vaccination program in the 2021 budget.

The government received 1.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac on Sunday (Dec 6) and will receive another 1.8 million doses in early January of 2021.

According to the health minister's decree, dated December 3, 2020, the government will use six types of COVID-19 vaccine including those produced by PT Bio Farma, AstraZeneca, China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation (Sinopharm), Moderna, Pfizer Inc and BioNTech, and Sinovac Biotech Ltd.

Vaccination will be conducted after the Drug and Food Control Agency (BPOM) issues an emergency-use authorization.

The BPOM awaits the clinical test result for the COVID-19 vaccine and data from China's Sinovac Biotech before issuing vaccine authorization, COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery Working Committee Chairperson Airlangga Hartarto stated.

Hartarto, concurrently the coordinating minister for economic affairs, emphasized the need for the country to prepare 320 million vaccine doses to inoculate some 160 million people. (antaranews)

European Union (EU) Ambassador to Indonesia Vincent Piket revealed that the 27-nation bloc had apportioned Rp28.9 billion in funds to facilitate handling the impact of COVID-19 in Indonesia.

"The European Union has allocated Rp28.9 billion in funds to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the community, particularly children, in several regions in Indonesia," he stated during the virtual launch of "Indonesia COVID-19 Pandemic Emergency Response (I-COPE)" in cooperation with Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI) on Wednesday.

The I-COPE program is aimed at curtailing the impact of COVID-19 on the community, particularly children prone to the impact of the infection, he remarked.

The assistance is a manifestation of cooperation between Indonesia and the EU, he affirmed.

"The European Union government is optimistic that the I-COPE program would be able to help the community affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, so that the people's economy would rebound, and children would be able to conduct activities well," he remarked.

The I-COPE program focuses on preventing the transmission of COVID-19 and mitigating its impact on vulnerable children and families in 90 villages in Jakarta, East Java, Ternate City, North Halmahera District in North Maluku, East Sumba District, and Southwest Sumba District in East Nusa Tenggara.

The program will target 1.1 million people comprising 12 thousand of the vulnerable group, including children, women, and senior citizens as well as people with disabilities, who are at high risk of contracting COVID-19.

WVI Director Doseba Sinay affirmed that the I-COPE project will last for 24 months, with the objective of intensifying efforts to avert the spread of COVID-19, providing assistance for sustainable economic recovery through the micro economic initiative, and implementing the cash voucher program. (antaranews)