Short News Overview - March 2011 Edition

8/6/2019 Short News Overview - March 2011 Edition

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Edition : March 2011/ III

FromtheEditorG20 is one of the influential group inthe world that controls 85% of theworld GDP and 80% of the worldtrade volume, and also representsthe two third of the worldpopulation, and Indonesia becomespart of this bigboys club.

Since the economic crisis hit the USand impacted globally, G20 forum isexpected to provide broader

support, especially in Asia, to solvethe root causes of the crisis. Ingeneral, G20 summit focused moreon monetary and financial issues,but development agenda has alsobecome a topic in the G20 Summit inSouth Korea on last November 2010.The main question is what kind ofadvantage that Indonesia can getfrom this forum? Who will take theadvantage? Indonesia that will get itfrom G20 or G20 that will take theadvantage from Indonesia?

Another problem is about MDGsachievement. The commitments forachieving MDGs have been declaredten years ago, but in general theprogress is slow even regress. MDGsachievement for all targets in 2015in Indonesia is really hard to beachieved and accomplished in time.Many conditions, such as poverty,malnutrition, maternal health,women empowerment, and waterand sanitation, have no significantprogress for the achievement.

The inconsistency between global

commitments and domestic policies

made by Indonesia will be the

headline news in this SNO March

edition. Moreover, there are

Economic and Social Data Monthly

Report taken from Central Bureau of

HEADLINENEWSGlobal Commitment and ItsInconsistency with Dom estic Policies

KoranJakarta/February17,2011Indonesia must deal with major issues related to the

implementation of international agreements such as

the commitments of G20 and their linkage to

government policies. Examples are the agreements on

trade liberalization and anticorruption. The Executive

Director of the International NGO Forum on Indonesia

Development (INFID), Donatus Klaudius Marut in

Jakarta, Wednesday (16/2), commented on the

implementation of resolutions agreed upon during the

G20 meeting held on 18 19 February 2011 in Paris,

France. Donatus considered the G20 meeting as a

strategic forum as among others it addresses the issue

of the commitment towards anticorruption.

According to his opinion, if such commitment is

incorporated into the government bureaucracy from

the central to local levels, foreign investment would

experience an upward trend.

The issue however lies in whether the G20 decision

and commitment is genuinely implemented in

Indonesia. Despite the considerable number of

international commitments agreed upon, they appear

to be incoherent and may instead lead to conflict.

Indonesia sorely lacks policy coherence, he asserted.

As an example, he mentioned on the governments

agreement to impose market and trade liberalization,

including on food commodities. The government is in

fact bound to the commitment to guarantee food self

reliance. How can we achieve food selfsufficiency

when imported food products are less costly? he

added.

Donatus explained further that Indonesia has the

opportunity to curtail the flight of assets gained from

corrupt practices or to prevent those evading taxes


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Statistics Indonesia, news about

MDGs achievement in Indonesia and

many other news related to situation

in Indonesia.

Have a nice reading!

from fleeing from Indonesia. G20 can urge countries

such as Singapore and Hong Kong to disclose and

return illicit assets that originated from Indonesia.

Indonesia can push for a more just international

economic and financial architecture, he contended.

France now assumes leadership position for G20 as of

the closing of the G20 Summit held in Seoul, South

Korea in November 2010.

Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo pointed out that

the G20 Meeting shall work towards preventing the

involvement of speculators with regard to food

commodities, either in the financial or nonfinancial

industry. This shall help anticipate the possibility of a

food crisis emerging in countries worldwide.

According to the Minister, forward transactions of

food commodities have long been prevalent which

may lead to soaring demand and later push prices

even much higher.

This includes future trading. Financial and non

financial companies can engage in forward buying and

forward selling, and enter the futures market without

underlying transactions, explained the Finance

Minister. In addition, this international meeting aims

to formulate initiatives to mobilize funds for

enhancing food productivity.

When possible, G20 member countries should raise

funds necessary to finance research aimed at ensuring

higher global food productivity levels in order to

eliminate the risks of food insecurity, said

Martowardojo. Speaking on food vulnerability, World

Bank President Robert B. Zoelick cautioned that rising

world food prices will drive 44 million people in

developing countries into extreme poverty. This is

based on the recent World Bank world food price

index which saw a 15 percent surge from October

2010 to January 2011.

In this reports, global food price currently registers at

three percent below the highest price recorded during

the economic crisis in 2008. These food price hikes

have pushed millions into poverty, making them

extremely vulnerable, particularly those who spent

half of their income on food, stressed Zoelick. From

the list of food commodities, Zoelick mentioned wheat


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as experiencing the highest increase, while corn flour

rose 73 percent which further exerts immense

pressure on poor countries.

Source

ECONOMICANDSOCIALDATAMONTHLYREPORTInflationInflation in February 2011 is 0.13 percent and inflation on 2011 calendar is 1.03 percent.Meanwhile, inflation in February 2011 towards February 2010 (yony) is 6.84 percent.

GDPGrowthGDP on fourth quarter in 2010 growths 6.9 percent compared with GDP on fourth quarter in2009 (yony). GDP on fourth quarter in 2010 decreased 1.4 percent compared with GDP onthird quarter in 2010 (qtoq). Accumulatively, GDP growth until fourth quarter in 2010 isgrew 6.1 percent compared with the same period in 2009 (ctoc).

ExportRateExport rate in January 2011 is US$ 14.45 billion, decreasing 14.11 percent compared withexport in December 2010, and increasing 24.65 percent compared with export in January2010. The average of nonoil and gas export rate in January 2011 is US$ 11.94 billion, consistsof US$ 0.39 billion agriculture product, US$ 9.29 billion industry product, and US$ 2.26 billionnonoil and gas mining.

ImportRateThe average of import rate in January 2011 is US$ 12.55 billion, decreasing 4.55 percentcompared with import rate in December 2010 and increasing 32.22 percent compared withimport rate in January 2010. The average of import rate based on utilization in January 2011including consumption good is US$ 1.03 billion, US$ 9.42 billion for raw materials, and US$2.10 billion for capital goods.

EmploymentRateThe average of unemployment rate in August 2010 is 8.32 billion people, decreasing 0.64percent from August 2009 (8.96 billion people) and decreasing 0.27 billion people fromFebruary 2010 (8.59 billion people). The average of Open Unemployment Rate in August2010 is 7.14 percent, lower than in August 2009 (7.87 percent) and also lower than inFebruary 2011 (7.41 percent).

RiceProductionEstimation of rice production in 2011 based on ARAM I2011 (Forecast Figures I2011) is67.31 billion tons GKG (Grain Dry Milling), increasing 895.86 thousand tons compared with in2010, which is 66.41 billion tons ofGKG.ForeignTouristThe number of foreign tourist in January 2011 is 548.8 thousand people, increasing 11.14percent compared with in January 2010, but decreasing 14.81 percent if compared with theprevious month.

Source


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INDONESIAUPDATE27 US Congressm en urge RI to annul bans on Ahm adiyah sect

TheJakartaPost/March17,2011 Twentyseven members of the US Congress have sent aletter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to revoke government regulations thatdiscriminate against the Ahmadiyah sect and religious minorities. In the letter dated March15, the Congressmen expressed their deep concern on decrees issued by provincialauthorities, including East and West Java governors banning Ahmadiyah from practicing its

religion publicly.

The Congressmen also referred to the brutal attack on Ahmadiyah members in Cikeusik,Pandeglang, Banten, last month that killed three Ahmadis in the presence of police officers. Inthe statement signed by all 27 Congress members, they also contended that the decree thatbanned Ahmadiyah had led to escalating violence toward religious minorities.

Not only do the decrees recently issued in East and West Java run contrary to the principlesof international human rights, but we also fear that they will only serve to emboldenextremists and exacerbate violence against the Ahmadiyah community, they said.

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RI refuses to bow to US Congressmen's request protesting Ahmadiyahbans

TheJakartaPost/March17,2011 Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi says the government willnot bow to 27 US Congressmen's demand for the annulment of regulations banning theactivities of the Islamic minority Ahmadiyah sect in Indonesia.

Gamawan said the government would not revoke a joint decree regarding the ban issued bythen religious affairs and home ministers, and the attorney general in 2008, which wasaccused of escalating violence against Ahmadiyah followers and later on inspiring thecreation of a number of bylaws that carried the same spirit. Not until we can produce a

permanent decision, the minister said when asked on whether the government was planningto revoke the decree in response to the US Congressmen's request.

He added he had not read the letter from the US Congressmen regarding the request, whichwas dated March 15 and addressed to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and was sentthrough the Indonesian Embassy in Washington.

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Irresponsible people smea r Indonesia`s peace: President

ANTARANews/March21,2011 President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said irresponsiblepeople had smeared the Indonesian people`s peaceful and tranquil lives over the past days. A

series of bomb terror had created fear and suspicion in the society members. The peoplecould not be left in a fearful situation, the head of state said.

Therefore, security officers and law enforcers had to work fast and arrest all perpetrators, hesaid. "We must not let our country become a land of adventure and dirty hands ofirresponsible people," he said. A series of bomb threats had rocked parts of Indonesia overthe past two weeks.

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Serious population boom threatens Indonesia

ANTARA News/March 28, 2011 The National Population and Family Planning Board(BKKBN) stated that the uncontrolled population boom could pose a serious threat toIndonesia due to its negative impacts on various sectors.

The recent Indonesian population growth reached 237.6 million with a growth rate of 1.49

percent. "The number had also caused many problems in residential areas such as trash,flooding and traffic congestion not to mention the difficulty of access to clean water, air andclimate change issues," Head of the Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) SugiriSyarief said. According to Sugiri, the problem could become more complicated with thepopulation boom.

"The high number of children will reduce the ability of human capital investment in thefamily, which will affect education and public health," he said. On the other hand, a largepopulation with low human resources would destroy the the quality of natural resources, hesaid.

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W orld Bank supports Indonesian W ater Law

TheJakartaPost/March28,2011 The World Bank will begin the second phase of a programsupporting the Indonesian governments efforts to strengthen water and food securitythrough managing water resources better. The Water Resources and Irrigation SectorManagement program is expected to directly impact over 500,000 farming households in 100districts across 14 provinces.

With greater water security, farmers can produce more, earn more and play a part in securingIndonesias food supply. To achieve this heightened food security, however, the farmersthemselves must play a role in managing local water resources. Indonesian law nowstipulates that farmers, district governments and other stakeholders should all participate in

managing water resources and the irrigation sector.

The second phase will entail a series of training exercises at district, provincial and centralgovernment levels and physical repairs at certain facilities, including the Jatiluhur irrigationsystem in West Java.

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MDGsACHIEVEMENTIndonesia trying to reduce ma ternal death rate

ANTARA News/ March 19,2011 Indonesia is trying to reduce maternal death rate fromcurrently at 228 per 100,000 living births to 102 by 2015. Coordinating minister for people`swelfare Agung Laksono said the rate of maternal deaths in the country was still very high andeven the highest among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

He said the government had been committed to reducing the rate in line with the MillenniumDevelopment Goals. One of the efforts to realize the goal is preparing various health facilitiesespecially for delivery processing, he said. Besides preparing the facilities the governmentalso tried to produce professional midwives that have skills in helping delivery, he said.


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The minister said he admitted that the number of such facilities and professional midwiveswas not big especially in the regions and small islands. "In remote islands it could take days toget the facilities or professional midwives," he said.

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In W est Java, 794 Mothers Die During Ch ildbirth

Republika/March7,2011 Some 794 mothers in West Java die during childbirth as a result ofhemorrhaging and hypertension. Although mortality rates have dropped compared to 2009,there is still much to do, said the Head for Public Service of the West Java Local Health Office,Niken Budisastuti during the Seminar on Population and Planned Parenthood held inBandung, Monday (7/3). Budisastuti informed that some 685,274 women in West Java gavebirth in 2010 of which 794 of them died either during pregnancy, delivery or the postnatalperiod. In 2009, some 814 mothers died during childbirth.

The main reason for maternal deaths during delivery is hemorrhaging and hypertension. Inaddition, there are also cases of childbirth unassisted by medical workers. Giving birth withonly the traditional midwife in attendance puts women at high risk. Most of these births

result in delayed assistance particularly during the critical period of delivery, explainedBudisastuti. She mentioned early and laterage pregnancy as among the causes for childbirthcomplications. Other causes are short birth intervals and lack of prenatal care.

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Health Minister: Tuberculosis Mor tality Rate Remains High

DetikNews/March24,2011 Despite a downward trend in 2009, tuberculosis (TB) relateddeaths in Indonesia remains fairly high. With total deaths at 61,000 people in 2011, Indonesiaranks fifth among highburden TB countries. The main concern is the persistently significantTB prevalence and death rates even though we have made major strides and being at fifth

place worldwide is not good at all, said Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih. TheMinister further mentioned that there are 430,000 new TB cases reported with 61,000deaths. Compared to 2009, these figures show a declining number of TB patients at 528,063people where 91,369 of them died from the disease.

"TB is actually a common disease. To overcome the disease, we must address its underlyingfactors such as poverty and education, she further explained. According to the Minister,densely populated settlements among the poor create a higher likelihood of spreading TB at amuch faster rate. Furthermore, the floors of these houses are made of soil and lack adequatelighting, making it easier for the disease to spread.

The Coordinating Minister for Peoples Welfare, Agung Laksono in his welcoming addresssaid that in 2010 TB case finding reached 77.3 percent in coverage and treatment success

attained the level of 89.7 percent. TB death rate meanwhile is lowered to more than 50percent from 92/100,000 in 1990 to 27/100,000 in 2010.

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Govt needs Rp 10 trillion investment in drinking w ater

ANTARANews/March23,2011 The government is preparing two million house connectionsof drinking water with an investment of Rp10 trillion in 2011, Drinking Water DevelopmentDirector of Urban Directorate General of the Public Works Ministry Danny Sutjiono said.

After meeting investors on the prospects and ethics of sustainable water business, he said theinstallation of household drinking water pipelines is part of efforts to raise the people`s

access to safe and sustainable drinking water resources.

Danny said that up to 2009 only 47.6 pct of the population had access to safe drinking water.The government, he said, will raise the supply of drinking water by 21 pct by 2015 which isthe target of the MDGs in lowering half of the proportion of the population without access tosafe and sustainable drinking water resources.

Full TextHUMANRIGHTSAmn esty calls for pro be of death in NTT

TheJakartaPost/March18,2011 Amnesty International (AI) asked the government to forman independent body to investigate allegations of torture that led to the death of one personand to severe injuries for six others. The violence was allegedly perpetrated by soldiers at theSatya Yudha Bakti border post in Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), AI Indonesia and EastTimor Campaign Division coordinator Josef Roy Benedict said in an email sent to The JakartaPost on Thursday.

Amnesty International received a report that a man named Charles Mali was killed in theincident, Benedict said. The independent body should make sure that those involved in thecase are not only soldiers due to the chain of command. They should be brought to justice in acivilian court in a process meeting international standards, Benedict said.

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Indonesia ranks 6th in 2010 Freedom Ba rom eter Asia

TheJakartaPost/March 4,2011 Indonesia ranked sixth out of 16 countries in the 2010Freedom Barometer Asia, an analytical report compiled by the Southeast Asia and East Asiaregional Office of democracypromoting organization Friedrich Naumann Stiftung. Overall,Indonesia scored 58.52, down from 63.47 in 2009, a release says on the Friedrich NaumannStiftung website.

The calculation takes into account three main components: political freedom, the rule of lawand economic freedom. Each of the three is broken down into subcomponents, such as pressfreedom and human rights protection.

According to the barometer, Indonesia scored 8.57 out of 10 in the political freedom categoryfor open and honest elections. It scored 7.25 for press freedom in the same category.However, in the law enforcement category, Indonesia only scored 2.8 in corruption and 5.28in the protection of human rights.

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Rights defender protection bill not urgent, lawm akers say

TheJakarta Post/ March 8,2011 Prosperous and Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker BukhoriYusuf says it is not necessary to endorse the bill on the protection of human rights defendersin the near future. "I have not see any relevant incidents in the recent time to support thisidea. The protection of human rights defenders sounds a bit partialistic as everybody in thiscountry deserves protection," he told a hearing at the House of Representatives' CommissionIII on law and human rights.

Bukhori suggested that the mechanism of protection for human rights defenders is includedin the revision of the Komnas HAM Law. "It could be included in the revised Criminal Codes[KUHP] and Criminal Procedures Code [KUHAP] instead of creating a separated law," he said.

Imparsial director Poengky Indarty said the bill was necessary because many perpetrators ofviolence and torture against activists and journalists had been left untouched. "In fact, manyof the incidents were committed by law enforcers whose duty is actually to protect people'srights," she said.

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GENDERGender equality still l ittle un derstood in RI : MinisterANTARA News/ March 8,2011 While International Women`s Day is always observed inIndonesia, gender equality is still a little understood and practiced in the country, Women`sRole Empowerment Minister Linda Amalia Sari said. Therefore, the government needs tomake more efforts to educate all citizens about its importance, the minister said hereTuesday.

"It`s been 100 years since the declaration of International Women`s Day but gender equalityis still mostly unknown in Indonesia where domestic violence against women and childrencontinue to be committed," Linda said. Linda said her ministry still needed to devise aneffective strategy to properly familiarize the Indonesian public with the concept.

"We need to have an effective strategy for the holding of campaigns and educative seminarsto make people aware about the importance of gender equality. If the gender equality conceptis sufficiently understood by the public, I`m sure the frequency of domestic violence cases willdecrease," she said.

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RI to impleme nt UN resolution on wom en

ANTARA News/ March 14, 2011 The Indonesian government through the ministry ofwomen`s empowerment and child protection will soon implement UN Security Council

resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security.

Women`s Empowerment Minister Linda Amalia Sari Gumelar said her office was drafting anational action plan on the implementation of the resolution. Linda said the national actionplan was made up of integrating gender issues into policy, programs and activities, datacollecting mechanism, and reporting system at each ministry and related institution.

"It will start from prevention to conflict termination phase, and recovery of social conflict


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both at central and regional levels," Linda said. She added that the national action plan wouldbe completed this year.

Full TextENVIRONMENTFirst US grant for Indonesia's forest conser vation signed

ANTARA News/ February 24, 2011 US Ambassador to Indonesia Scot Marciel and thesecretary general of Indonesia`s Forestry Ministry Hadi Daryanto have signed the first grantextended under the Tropical Forests Conservation Act agreement.

According to a press release from the US embassy here Thursday the program aims toimprove forest management and protect biodiversity through grants to local NGOs in prioritylandscapes in Sumatra. The program aims to improve forest management and protectbiodiversity in Indonesia as part of the USIndonesia Comprehensive Partnership.

The United States and Indonesian governments, Conservation International, and KEHATIcreated this 30 million US dollars forest conservation grants program for Sumatra in late2009 through a debtfornature swap. A sevenmember oversight committee governs the

programs. Members represent the Ministry of Forestry, USAID, Conservation International,KEHATI, and three civil society organizations, which include Indonesia Business Links,Transparency International, and Syiah Kuala Banda Aceh University.

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RI experts ready to operate nuclear power plants

ANTARA News/ March 29, 2011 The Indonesian Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency(Bapeten) has confirmed that Indonesian personnel are ready to operate nuclear powerplants as soon as those facilities are built in Indonesia. "Let me emphasize here thatIndonesian human resources will be ready by the time nuclear power plants are constructedin Indonesia," said Bapeten head As Natio Lasman.

He admitted there is a fear for the presence of nuclear power plants among the Indonesiancommunities, something that has arisen from lack of the correct information about hownuclear power plants are operated. Lasman explained that nuclear energy is an energy thatcan replace fossil energy which is widely in use today provided the utilization is inaccordance with strict regulation and control. Whereas fossil energy is depleting fast in therecent years.

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Banggai farm ers to erect tent in front of palace

TheJakartaPost/March29,2011 Farmers from Toili, Banggai, Central Sulawesi, plan toerect a tent and camp in front of the presidential palace on Tuesday for three days to seeksupport after their land was converted into a oil palm plantation.

Twelve farmers from the Singkoyo Farmers Union (Pepsi), which is supported by localactivists, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and theIndonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), have been seeking help from government inJakarta since early this month. They have approached the Forestry Ministry, Manpower and


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Transmigration Ministry, National Land Agency, the House of Representatives and NationalPolice.

The next plan is to ask for help from the President as the previous hearings did not give usany positive results, one of the farmers, Asis, said Monday. The farmers said life had beenharder for about 350 people in Toili after a plantation took over their land, and their earningshad dropped due to their limited access to land.Full Text

INFIDACTIVITIESRoundTableDiscussionandWorkshoponBuilding IndonesianOwnershiponG20:TheSustainabilityofFoodReinforcement?

INFID held a round table discussion andworkshop on Building Indonesian Ownershipon G20: The Sustainability of FoodReinforcement? in Cemara Hotel on March2829, 2011. On the first day of this event is

round table discussion, which is attended bymore than 40 people and the speakers areMahendra Siregar (Vice Minister of TradeMinistry and Sherpa G20 Indonesia), BustanulArifin (Professor of Agricultural Economicsfrom UNILA and Senior Economist from

INDEF), and Gunawan (General Secretary of Indonesian Human Rights Committee for SocialJustice and member of Special Working Group on Food Security Board). Those three speakersinformed the participants about Indonesia, G20, and Food Security from three differentperspectives: government, academician, and NGO perspective. There is one big question thatappeared in the end of discussion: which actor does take advantage? G20 takes it fromIndonesia or Indonesia who takes advantage from G20?

On the second day, the workshop day, facilitator and participants were trying to answer thesetwo questions based on what they have listened from three speakers on previous day: (1)how to make the agenda of Indonesian food management on G20 in line with nationaldevelopment strategy, and (2) how to build the process to ensure all of development actorsengage on that agenda discussion. Many statements, ideas, suggestions, and argumentsappeared on this workshop and there is a dialogue between the government, represented byMinistry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture, and Fiscal Policy Office Ministry ofFinance, and civil society.

INFID stands for the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development and was established in June 1985.INFID is an open and pluralistic network of NGOs from Indonesian and various member countries of theConsultative Group for Indonesian (CGI) as well as of International organization with an interest in and

commitment to Indonesia

More information please visit: www.infid.org

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Short News Overview - March 2011 Edition