VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia has made tremendous progress in the fight against hunger, reporting a decline in the number of children suffering from malnutrition in the country.  

This was revealed in a joint press statement by Indonesia's Planning Agency and four other UN agencies in the country - the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO), World Food Programme (WFP) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

The statement revealed that recent statistics showed positive trends in food security and malnutrition, with Indonesia reporting progress in the fourth year of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

However, it cautioned that stunting from severe malnutrition still remained high in Indonesia, with one in three stunted children present in the country.

Deputy Minister for Maritime Affairs and Natural Resources of National Planning Agency/ National Coordinator of SDG implementation Arifin Rudiyanto said that sustainable and productive agriculture would be Indonesia's real challenges in the near future. "In Indonesia, the food production system mainly relies on smallholders, and increasing the productivity of farmers is one of our critical policies," he said at the "Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Indonesia" Forum held in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Last year, per capita food consumption in Indonesia increased by around five per cent, and among the people living in poverty, calorie consumption increased around eight per cent.

In this setting, the stunting rate of children under five years of age in Indonesia fell by seven per cent to 30.8 percent between 2013 and 2018. The rate of wasting in children under five years of age also fell two percent to 10 percent during the same period.

Indonesia is in a state of economic transition, with income growth of over five per cent per year, and the demand for food growing at over four per cent. Changes are inevitable due to rapid economic growth, urbanization and a change in lifestyles.

These factors have impacted food security, nutrition and healthy diets. Like many other countries in the region, Indonesia also struggles to establish a sustainable and productive food system and nutrition, the UN agencies revealed. (ANTARA)

The Indonesian General Election that is getting closer, demands all parties to continuously intensify socialization of the election for the sake of the success of the 2019 democracy party. With more than 180 thousands Indonesian citizens in Hong Kong with voting rights, the Indonesian Consulate General of Hong Kong continues to provide support for the success of the 2019 election.  Indonesian Consul General for Hong Kong and Macau, Tri Tharyat, told RRI correspondent on Tuesday (April 2) that that the Indonesian Consulate General in Hong Kong provides suports in the form of building facilities to be used as a storehouse for ballots and ballot boxes. In addition, the Consulate General in Hong Kong also provides a special room for Hong Kong Overseas Election Committee -PPLN and Election supervisory committee-Panwaslu to support their duties.

“I am responsible for facilitating all processes. I provide Indonesian Consulate General building to store ballot boxes and so on. I also provide the Indonesian Consulate's rooms to be used for vote counting. Yes, that's my duty,” said Tri Tharyat.

Indonesian Consul General Tri Tharyat added that the Indonesian Consulate General in Hong Kong also facilitatesa venue for voting on April 14. At least in Hong Kong there are 3 polling stations that have been provided, and all of them are indoors. The decision to choose indoor polling stations this year,  is due to the comfort factor for voters.Until now, the Consulate General in Hong Kong is intensively hold coordination  with the Hong Kong Overseas Election Committe (PPLN) and Hong Kong Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) to succeed the 2019 election. The voting day in Hong Kong will be held on April 14, 2019, while the vote counting process will be on April 17, 2019. (KBRN/Ellya Ratna/AHM)

The international community must work together innovatively and adaptivelyto prevent and overcome the increasing funding of terrorism, Indonesian Vice Minister forForeign Affair A.M. Fachir said during the United Nations Security Council Open Debate on "Threats to International Peace and Security caused by terrorist acts: Preventing and Combating the Financing of Terrorism", at the UN Headquarter, in New York, Thursday (March 28).

In front of the UN Security Council members, Fachir reaffirmed Indonesia's full commitment in the efforts to prevent and combat terrorism and terrorism funding, the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement published on the ministry's official website on Sunday.

In the Open Debate moderated by French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, Fachir reminded that the terrorism act in Christchurch, New Zealand on 15 March 2019, proved that no country could be free from the threat of terrorism.

He particularly welcomed the commitment to increasing international cooperation, including the adoption of Resolution 2462 concerning Preventing and Countering Financing of Terrorism, where Indonesia was one of the co-sponsor countries.

He further stressed the importance of adopting and implementing various international commitments such as the Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, various related UNSC Resolutions, and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations under the laws and regulations of each country.

The Deputy stressed the importance of increasing the adaptation of the international community in responding to various technological developments in the fields of finance and information, through firm, flexible, innovative, and practical policies.

In addition, Fachir encouraged to improve global cooperation, among others, through information exchange, technical assistance, capacity building of law enforcement officers and financial intelligence units, and coordination between relevant UN agencies and committees, including consultation and synergy with FATF.

He also shared Indonesia's experience in putting collaborative efforts to combat terrorism, such as organizing the Counter Terrorism Financing Summit to conduct regional risk assessments and analyze the threats and impacts of terrorism funding in the Asia Pacific region.

"Indonesia keeps increasing the capacity of its legal instruments and infrastructures, among others through the National Strategy (National Strategy) for Crime of Terrorism Funding and by strengthening cooperation between ministries, institutions and private sectors", Fachir said. (ANTARA)

The Environment and Forestry Ministry's Post Command for Forest Fire Control has continued its routine and integrated patrols to anticipate hot spots indicating of forest and land fires as moderate El Nino is expected to develop from April until July 2019.

The post command had extinguished hot spots to prevent forest fires in several provinces, Raffles B Panjaitan, the ministry's director of forest and land fire control, said in a statement here on Saturday.

They are conducting routine patrols among other things in the provinces of North Sumatra, Jambi, South Sumatra, South Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, and Southeast Sulawesi.

Integrated patrols are being carried out in West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and East Kalimantan Provinces.

In West Kalimantan, they patrolled 150 villages during March 1-30, 2019. In Central and East Kalimantan Provinces, they are expected to cover 36 villages during patrols to be conducted on March 25 to April 13, and again on April 21 until 30, 3019.

In the provinces of Riau and Riau Islands, they have been carrying out routine patrols and extinguished hot spots among other things in Pekanbaru, Indragiri Hulu and Dumai in Riau Province, as well as in Sei Harapan protected forest in Riau Islands Province.

Riau has declared forest fire emergency status since February 19, 2019 to October 31, 2019 (255 days), and West Kalimantan from February 12 to December 31, 2019 (323 days).

Based on Landsat imagery data, forest and land fires have gutted a total of 5,776 hectares of land.

Based on field observations, however, 3,765 ha forest and land areas were gutted by fires.

Of the total 3,765 hectares of land, 10.80 ha were in Aceh; 471.50 ha in North Sumatra; 2,778,.9 ha in Riau, 113 ha in Riau Islands, 30.05 ha in Jambi, 0.25 ha in South Sumatra, 243.03 ha in West Kalimantan, 25.40 ha in Central Kalimantan, 83.48 ha in East Kalimantan, and 10 ha in South Sulawesi. (ANTARA)