VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian government has prioritized programs on reducing the poverty rate, and the efforts seem to have yielded positive results.

The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) revealed that the number of people living below the poverty line had dropped to 25.95 million, or 9.82 percent of the population in March 2018, from 27.77 million, or 10.64 percent of the population a year earlier.

"The poverty ratio (in March 2018) was the lowest in comparison with the ratios in the earlier periods," BPS Head Suhariyanto informed reporters in Jakarta on July 16, 2018.

Across Indonesia, the number of people categorized as poor in March 2018 had dropped to 1.82 million from that recorded a year earlier.

In urban areas, the number of poor in urban areas in March 2018 totaled 10.14 million people, or 7.02 percent, and in rural areas, 15.81 million, or 13.2 percent.

In March 2017, the number of poor people in urban areas had reached 10.67 million, or 7.72 percent, while in urban areas, the figure totaled 17.1 million, or 13.93 percent.

Food commodities having a major impact on poverty in urban and rural areas are rice, cigarettes, eggs, instant noodles, and refined sugar, while non-food commodities include housing, gasoline, electricity, education, and toiletry.

At the regional level, the lowest poverty rate was recorded in Kalimantan, at 6.09 percent, totaling 982,300 people.

The number of poor in Java reached 13.34 million, followed by Sumatra, 5.9 million; and Sulawesi, two million.

A decline in the poverty ratio was recorded in five provinces: Central Java, down 0.91 percent; South Sulawesi, a drop of 0.43 percent; West Java, a decrease of 0.38 percent ; Banten, a 0.36 percent decline; and Southeast Sulawesi, down 0.35 percent.

However, an increase in the poverty ratio was recorded in five provinces: Jambi, up 0.03 percent; Aceh, 0.05 percent; West Sulawesi, 0.07 percent ; the Riau Islands, 0.08 percent; and Lampung, 0.10 percent.

In the meantime, Maluku and Papua have recorded the highest poverty ratio of 21.20 percent, followed by Bali and Nusa Tenggara, 14.02 percent, which are all located in the eastern Indonesian region.

East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), for instance, remained the third-poorest province in the country, after Papua, with a poverty ratio of 27.74 percent, and West Papua, with a poverty ratio of 23.01 percent, although NTT`s poverty ratio had dropped slightly, according to Head of the NTT BPS office Maritje Pattiwaellapia.

NTT`s poverty ratio dropped slightly to 21.35 percent in March 2018, from 21.36 percent in September 2017.

A total of 1,142,170 people in the province, with a population of 5.2 million, were categorized as poor.

Basically, the percentage of people living in poverty in the eastern part of Indonesia in March 2018 was still higher than that of the western part.

"It (the poverty rate) mostly fell, but it remains a major homework in the eastern part of Indonesia, as the percentage of its poor people is far higher than that of the western part," BPS Chief Suhariyanto pointed out.

Suhariyanto expressed hope that several infrastructure projects being implemented in the eastern part of Indonesia would help to reduce the number of people living in poverty there.

"Hence, development activities in the eastern part of Indonesia would hopefully have a positive impact on the reduction in poverty rate there," he asserted.

In fact, World Bank has advised that better logistics will boost the country`s competitiveness and also help reduce poverty by lowering the prices of goods and services in remote regions, especially in Eastern Indonesia.

"Efficient maritime logistics are vital for higher growth of the manufacturing, agriculture, and service sectors," World Bank Country Director for Indonesia and Timor-Leste Rodrigo A. Chaves noted in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Government of Indonesia will set its focus on the development of Independent Prosperous Village (DSM) as part of the efforts to address poverty in border regions.

"We will focus on the development of Independent Prosperous Village in some 41 districts and cities that have border regions to address the issue of poverty and improve the people`s welfare," Social Affairs Minister Idrus Marham remarked recently.

Marham believes that if citizens in border regions are prosperous, then the resilience of the state will also be robust.

The social affairs minister stated that universities are being involved in the development of DSM at the field level by deploying students to conduct Real Work Lecture, or KKN.

The Social Affairs Ministry`s partnership with universities in developing the DSM program began in 2015, with the development of 140 villages to become independent in realizing prosperity.

The DSM program is a new breakthrough in a bid to accelerate the handling of poverty. Universities are expected to act as initiators and guides based on their potential, capacity, and capability, while the Ministry of Social Affairs will function as the facilitator and director. (ANTARA)

Vice Consul General of Japan in Medan, North Sumatra, Masamu Yamamori  visited RRI Medan on Monday. It was the first visit of Japanese government to RRI Medan since the Japanese Consulate General was formally established in Sumatra. The visit aimed to socialize events related to the 60th anniversary of Japan-Indonesia relations. Masamu Yamamori said that Japan-Indonesia cooperation in Sumatra was conducted by private or government parties in the fields of energy, education, and culture. In particular, Yamamori conveyed various events related to the commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of Japan-Indonesia relationship this year, which was conducted in Jakarta and Medan.

“In Jakarta we have conducted many events. We invited football team from Japan, FC Tokyo, to play a friendly match with Bhayangkara FC at Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Sports Stadium. Actually, on August 4 and 5 we will also conduct an event in Medan,” Yamamori said.

Masamu Yamamori further said that the event will be held for two days in Medan Club in August, enlivened with seminars, cultural event, and the visit of some guests from Japan. Meanwhile, Head of RRI Medan, Nawir hoped the Japanese Consulate General in Medan can cooperate with RRI for the common interests. The meeting between Vice Consul General and Head of RRI Medan was ended by exchanging souvenirs. (KBRN/DEWI/ trs/yati/AHM)

Nelson Mandela  International Day 2018 is commemorated in Indonesia. The Day also known as Mandela Day, was officially declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 2009 to remember Nelson Mandela - the anti-apartheid activist from South Africa, as well as his spirit to make the world a better place. The United Nations Information Center (UNIC) Jakarta Acting Director Eshila Maravanyika in a special interview with Voice of Indonesia on Monday (16/7) said the Mandela Day 2018 commemoration in Indonesia will be held by holding a community visit to a girls' home named PSAA 3 in Tebet, South Jakarta, on Wednesday (18/7).

"Okay. So we join hands with the South African Embassy, and we are going to PSAA 3, which is the home I just talked about, the home for girls between the age of twelve to eighteen, and the girls go to school and where they stay togehter. And so, we say let's go and see the girl, and the something for the girls, give time to the girls, and to watch it what they are doing in their compound. And of course I mean, it's not something that you think big, but it's just the thought. It's the thought that we want to be able to put in people's mind: you can also help," Eshila said.

Eshila Maravanyika further said that the main purpose of the commemoration of Nelson Mandela International Day is to encourage people of the world to create better change for the community. According to Eshila, UNIC Jakarta found such spirit in Indonesia during their visit last year to a gardening community in Jakarta, which is able to empower the community through their ideas and activities. (VOI/Steve/AHM)

Diplomacy is often regarded as a field dominated by men. The high mobility makes the diplomacy seem to be unproper field of women. However, the stigma is currently not fully applicable in the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  Sincethe current recruitment of young diplomats, in the ministry 50 percents of the diplomats are dominated by women. Even young female diplomats often reach the best positions in the education. This was stated by Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi recently.

"Regarding diplomacy and women, the issues have existed since 15 years ago. In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, almost 50 percent of the new diplomats are women.We also educate fresh graduates from university to be diplomats. They havequite good ranking position. Mostly, seven from the top ten are women," Retno Marsudi said.

Furthermore, Minister Retno Marsudi also advised female diplomats to focus on making decisions, although the profession of a diplomat demand logical performance. According to the Minister, logic can be aligned with the heart while the diplomacy is not fully driven by logic. It takes the heart to get diplomacy since diplomacy is an art in conducting negotiation. (VOI/REZHA/Trs/Nada/AHM)