The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries have no other option but to provide solid and concrete support to Palestine, according to Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

"I want to remind the OIC members about our unfinished work, which is the Palestinian issue, (considering) the situation is getting worse," Marsudi remarked at the 46th OIC Council of Foreign Ministers meeting held in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Friday (March 1).

In a statement released by the Foreign Ministry on Saturday, Marsudi encouraged all OIC members to support the struggle of Palestinian people to achieve their independence.

Indonesia, as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, will continue to provide its full support for the Palestinian cause.

One of the concrete measures taken by Indonesia to help Palestinian people is by providing financial assistance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) for desalinating water facilities in Gaza as well as conducting capacity building program for Palestinian women refugees in Jordan.

Marsudi will deliver the assistance to the UNRWA Headquarters in Amman, Jordan, after the OIC meeting wrapped up.

"The only choice for the OIC is to strengthen solidarity and concrete support for Palestine," Marsudi noted.

The OIC meeting is held at the Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi, on March 1-2, 2019, under the theme "Fifty Years of Islamic Cooperation: Roadmap for Prosperity and Development."

At the meeting, Bangladesh handed over the chairmanship of OIC CFM to the UAE. The meeting will also ratify more than 130 draft resolutions related to OIC cooperation on various issues.

During the meeting, the Indonesian government submitted three draft resolutions related to the establishment of the OIC Contact Group for Peace and Dialogue, Islamic Office for the Boycott of Israel, and the Global Pact on Migration.

In addition, the Indonesian government submitted an annual resolution draft regarding the first meeting of the OIC Medicines Supervisory Board that was held in Jakarta in November 2018 as well as Indonesia’s role and assistance to help handle the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State, Myanmar. (ANTARA)

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi emphasized the importance of building mutual trust among parties to overcome the problem of Rakhine State, Myanmar.

Marsudi brought up the issue of Rakhine State at the 46th Organization of Islamic Cooperation Council of Foreign Ministers meeting held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Friday (March 1).

The need to resolve the issue of trust deficits, both between communities in the Rakhine State as well as between Myanmar and the international community, is essential to manage the situation and create peace in the conflicted area.

As a fellow Southeast Asian country, Indonesia had contributed to help overcome the situation in Rakhine by promoting humanitarian assistance as well as helping efforts to repatriate Rakhine refugees from Bangladesh to Rakhine State voluntarily, safely and honorably.

Marsudi also stated that ASEAN continued to strive to help bridge, assist the repatriation process, including by sending teams to create conducive conditions for the repatriation of refugees.

"Progress must be achieved at Rakhine State. Myanmar must work hard to show that progress can be carried out, and we expect the OIC to fully support ASEAN’s efforts," Marsudi noted in a statement released by the Foreign Ministry on Saturday.

The OIC meeting is held at the Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi on March 1 and 2, 2019, under the theme "Fifty Years of Islamic Cooperation: Roadmap for Prosperity and Development."

At the meeting, Bangladesh handed over the chairmanship of OIC CFM to UAE. The meeting would also ratify more than 130 draft resolutions related to OIC cooperation on various issues.

During the meeting, the Indonesian government submitted three draft resolutions related to the establishment of the OIC Contact Group for Peace and Dialogue, Islamic Office for the Boycott of Israel, and the Global Pact on Migration.

In addition, the Indonesian government also submitted an annual resolution draft regarding the first meeting of the OIC Medicines Supervisory Board which was held in Jakarta in November 2018, as well as Indonesia’s role and assistance to help handle the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State, Myanmar. (ANTARA)

The Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry through the Directorate General of Climate Change Control holds a hydroflorocarbon or HFC workshop in the framework of implementing the Montreal protocol in Jakarta Thursday. The Montreal Protocol is one of the international agreements in the field of Environment that aims to protect the ozone layer. Indonesia has ratified the Montreal protocol since 1992. This activity is carried out to socialize companies that use Hydro chloro Fluoro Carbon or HCFCs in refrigerators such as air conditioners, refrigerators and other refrigerators to convert them to Hydro Fluoro Carbon or HFCs that are more ozone-friendly . After the event, the Director General of Climate Change Control, Ruandha Agung Sugardiman explained, Indonesia still had three years to inventory their needs so that it could carry out simulations and modeling.

"We from the Ministry of Forestry and Environment have opened a workshop on HFC enabling activities, essentially how we prepare ourselves in order to ratify the Montreal protocol better known as the Kigali Amendment. Because it has been changed several times as there are new elements which will be reduced from this ozone-depleting material. Therefore there are still three years until 2023. So we carry out an inventory of our needs 2020, 2021,2023 so that we can do simulations, modeling which industries need to be high," said Ruandha.

Ruandha added, the success of the Montreal protocol in reducing the consumption of ozone depleting substances (ODS) has been very significant. Indonesia also contributes by reducing the consumption of BPO especially HCFC types from 2013 to 2018 by 124.36 tons of Ozone Depleting Substances or ODP. This achievement was due to the conversion of BPO types of HCFCs with alternatives that are more Ozone-friendly and also friendly to climate change known as BROCCOLI or free of bromine, chlorine and pro-climate. (voi / nk)

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi stated at the 40th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that Indonesia is a reliable partner for democracy, development, and social justice.

The minister made the remarks while delivering Indonesia's statement and launching Indonesia's candidacy for UNHRC membership for 2020-2022 at the UN Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, recently, the Foreign Ministry said in a press statement released on Wednesday.

In the statement, she noted that global human rights situation is currently facing huge challenges. Various conflicts and instability have raised the number of human rights violations.

Seasonal political interests in various parts of the world have reduced tolerance, respect, and inclusiveness in the public, which are the essential values of human rights.

To face the current global human rights situation, she remarked that all countries have no other choices but to contribute to the creation of better global human rights situation.

In this regard, Indonesia has decided to nominate for a UNHRC membership for 2020-2022 term. The UNHRC is expected to elect its members in November 2019.

"As one of the founding members of the UNHRC, Indonesia will actively contribute to promoting human rights, giving new spirit, synergy, and energy in promoting human rights," she added.

There is no country without human rights records. After all, this should not pose a hindrance to promote human rights, she explained.

For its part, Indonesia has come up with high commitment and several steps to step up the protection of human rights at a national level. (ANTARA)