VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia commemorates Nusantara Day every 13 December. The history of Nusantara Day began with the declaration of the then Indonesian Prime Minister, Djuanda Kartawidjaja, on December 13, 1957 regarding Indonesia's maritime boundaries. This statement which became known as the Djuanda Declaration stated to the world that the Indonesian seas include the surrounding seas, between and within the Indonesian archipelago, becoming a unitary territory of the Republic of Indonesia -NKRI.

Legally, the designation of Indonesia as an archipelagic country as well as a maritime country is stipulated in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea -UNCLOS 1982. Through this, Indonesia's area was increased to 5.8 million square kilometers consisting of the territorial sea and inland waters covering 3.1 million square kilometers and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covering 2 million square kilometers.

As the largest archipelagic country in the world, which has the second longest coastline in the worldafter Canada, or along 108,000 km, Indonesia has excellent potential, from geo-political, geo-strategic and geo-economic points of view. Indonesia also has abundant marine natural resources, both living and non-living resources and marine services that have not been optimally exploited.

Indonesia's maritime potential has an important role in restoring Indonesia's unstable economy since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in early 2020. This maritime potential is not only the marine and fisheries sector but also the potential for marine tourism, which needs to be improved even amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition, the presence of digital technology also plays a major role in boosting and introducing marine potential, both marine and fishery products as well as the potential for marine tourism. Fisheriescommunities and marine tourism businesses can also use digital technology to introduce products, seek opportunities and plan marine tourism trips. This is in accordance with the theme of Nusantara Day 2020, namely "Strengthening Maritime Culture for the Increasing Economy of the Digital Age".

Hopefully, the 2020 Nusantara Day can bring new strength and solidarity to the Indonesian people in introducing Indonesia's maritime potential. So, it can rebuild the national economy amid the pandemic.

Indonesia is a maritime country where 2 thirds of its territory is oceans. Indonesia's marine wealth is very abundant. Various innovations have been made to facilitate the use of marine natural resources. One of them is a tool called ‘Smart Fish Detection Technology’ (SMAF-DT). This innovation created by students of the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology -ITS is able to detect areas with lots of fish so that fishermen can spread nets in the area and get maximum results.

Two students, Rafly Zaka Rulloh and Figo Fergiyanto Dachlan obtained the idea from their observation of the fishermen's daily habit of fishing in the Madura Strait.  Both of tham see that the fish catch of fishermen in Bangkalan Regency is relatively small compared to fishermen in other areas so that it affects their economy. Rafly explained that this happened because of the small water coverage area. In addition, the fishing method still uses the old method by spreading nets in the middle of the sea based on instincts, memories and estimates of fishermen regarding their previous fishing history.

To overcome this problem, the team created innovation in the form of a tool that can help fishermen increase their catch. This tool called ‘SMAF-DT’ is installed at the bottom of the boat so that it can detect the presence of fish in the waters by using sensors.

The SMAF-DT utilizes sound waves and ultrasonic sensors to detect fish movements in the sea. Then, the tool is equipped with an alarm light on the boat as an indicator. When the boat starts sailing towards the sea, the sensor begins to detect the movement of the fish in the water. The SMAF-DT is also equipped with position tracking technology via GPS so that it can monitor vessel movements and record historical positions of previous catches. This device can be connected to a smartphone and can be used by people at home to monitor the position of the boat directly through the SMAF-DT application. In addition, the SMAF-DT application is also equipped with the main menu About Fish. This feature is useful for increasing the knowledge of fishermen about the types of fish and their contents.

Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia, Hermono handed over a credential letter from Indonesian President Joko Widodo to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah along with 12 ambassadors from other friendly countries at the Kuala Lumpur State Palace on Tuesday (8/12). On the occasion, Ambassador Hermono was accompanied by Defense Attaché Colonel. Infantry  Tri Andi Kuswantoro because it is based on  Malaysian protocol during the Covid-19 pandemic; only one person could be accompanied. Ambassador Hermono at the event  conveyed greetings from  President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo to Yang dipertuan Agong.

Some  points that they talked about are the handling of Covid-19 and vaccine readiness in each country. Ambassador Hermono arrived in Kuala Lumpur on 19 October 2020. He is a career diplomat who started joining the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1987.

Previously, Hermono was on duty in Colombia, Uzbekistan, New Zealand, Malaysia and was the Indonesian Ambassador to Spain. He also served as Secretary General of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency (BP2MI) from 2015 to 2018. The assignment of Ambassador Hermono as Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia is expected to further enhance bilateral relations between the two countries. Moreover,  Ambassador Hermono emphasized the importance of efforts to improve the protection of Indonesian migrant workers.

This year, the 71st of World Human Rights Day commemoration on December 10 will be recorded in history because this year there is something that has never happened before, COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, the theme of World Human Rights Day is related to the Covid-19 pandemic and focuses on the need to build back better by ensuring human rights is the core of recovery efforts.

The United Nations (UN) seeks to achieve common global goals by creating equal opportunities for all, addressing the failures exposed and exploited by Covid-19, and implementing human rights standards to address rooted, systematic, inequality, exclusion and discrimination and between generations.

December 10 is an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of human rights in rebuilding the world we want, the need for global solidarity and our connectedness and common humanity.

At the beginning of the spread of Covid 19, UN Secretary General Antoni Guetteress had mentioned that this pandemic tends to make people ignore human rights. Due to Covid, the doors of the border areas were closed, the right to pass was restricted, the granting of asylum was stopped, so that Covid can be overcome immediately. In several aspects, the anticipation of the spread of Covid 19 has made human rights enforcement countless.

The commemoration of Human Rights Day on December 10 with the theme Recover Better, Stand Up for Human Rights shows hope that when the process of finding and completing the COVID-19 vaccine has progressed to a bright spot, it is hoped that the enforcement of human rights is also expected. will get better, be able to develop better and ensure that human rights are fulfilled during the pandemic as part of recovery efforts.

For example, it is necessary to create human rights standards in overcoming inequality, exclusion and discrimination that occurred during Covid-19. Everyone in the world has an equal opportunity to obtain this right. For example, by ending all forms of discrimination in the process of handling Covid, there needs to be encouragement and social contracts to promote and protect economic, social and cultural rights in the "new life habits" (new normal) and other steps.

What was decided to be the main focus and theme of the commemoration of International Human Rights Day is truly a note and reflection of each country during the journey to guard the pandemic. It is time for every country to touch their conscience to correct their handling of Covid so far, for better human rights enforcement.