Rationale given for NZ community policing assistance to Indonesia

The New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully

The New Zealand foreign minister, Murray McCully, has defended a US$5 million commitment to a three-year community policing programme in eastern Indonesia, including Papua and West Papua.

The programme, which follows a pilot in 2009/10, is to be funded by the New Zealand aid programme and implemented by New Zealand police.

Murray McCully says his government wants to encourage police and others in authority in the Papua region of Indonesia to understand good commmunity policing initiatives.

“The whole basis of community policing is training people to be able to use their authority in a way that is going to engender respect from the locals. It is precisely the expertise that New Zealand imparts through the community policing project,” he said.

“It’s simply an area that New Zealand has had a long-term interest in providing assistance in. We believe that to the extent that there have been difficulties in relation to Papua, those are best dealt with by encouraging police and others in authority to understand good community policing initiatives. And that’s a capability that we’re providing through the Indonesian government at the moment.”

“It’s one of the great aspects of New Zealand police that we are world-class at community policing and that’s something we’re doing in West Papua,” he explained.

Though the program has been criticized with the Green Party saying New Zealand should instead put resources into facilitating dialogue between the West Papuans and Jakarta, McCully says that he is more broadly aware of a lot of work that is going on in Indonesia at the moment to improve that overall environment and to improve communication in relation to West Papua.

He thinks that the Green Party and others who want to go pointing fingers at difficulties in West Papua need to get themselves updated on the significant amount of work that is being done by parties in Indonesia, in West Papua and Papua to achieve better understanding and to try and improve overall relationships.

“There’s a lot of good work being done, and I want to see the New Zealand government play its part in reinforcing that work, rather than simply standing back, as the critics do, and trying to identify problems,” he said.

Source: Radio New Zealand International

An Educator’s Heroic Journey to Change Gender Relations in Papua

Esteemed mythologist Joseph Campbell is famous for breaking down “The Hero’s Journey,” a template by which all heroes — from Hercules to Harry Potter — follow the same pattern: the separation, the initiation and the return.

When Nabire, Papua-born Els Tieneke Rieke Katmo decided to earn her PhD in gender studies and HIV/AIDS at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, distance and separation were never factors, and the path seems more fluid and ultimately direct — but no less heroic.

After all, Els — a professor at the State University of Papua in Manokwari, West Papua — is from a remote part of Indonesia where walking three hours to school in the morning is par for the course.

It’s more than 4,000 kilometers from Nabire to Adelaide, but distance has done little to shake the confidence of a woman who has dedicated her life to gender issues and HIV awareness.

“Suddenly my neighbor passed away because of HIV,” the 38-year-old mother of two said. “Then one-by-one my relatives and friends started passing away. The biggest problem was people still believed these deaths were caused by black magic. A lack of education of the people around me pushed me to find out more about the issue, to help people around me.”

During her undergraduate dissertation in the same university where she has taught since 2009, Els stumbled upon a number of gender issues and overall lack of education leading to the spread of HIV. “I looked closely at the use of contraception by women and realized there was a big lack of knowledge about this, which is one of the major reasons behind the spread of HIV,” Els said.

Born to a forward-thinking father from Merauke in Papua, Els knew from a young age that she and her siblings were different. School attendance was mandatory. Men and women were equal. Els learned how to ride a motorbike and mend faulty electric devices while her brothers were taught how to cook.

Most recently Els, who earned her master’s degree in gender studies from the University of Indonesia, has tackled HIV among housewives in Manokwari.

“All the projects and research I’ve been involved in, have led me to the conclusion that not only education, but also the mentality about gender and HIV have to be changed,” Els said. “This pushed me to pursue a PhD focusing on gender, the sexuality of Papuan men and women and its relation to HIV and AIDS.”

Awarded a scholarship by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), now Els is ready to take her mission to the next level.

“I strongly believe knowledge is the most important element to survival,” Els said. “After I return to Papua, I’ll collaborate with local radio to produce a program about HIV. Also, I will start a project for the economic empowerment of women and kids with HIV. The most effective way to make people understand about the topic is by giving them examples based on daily life.”

Close friend and a master’s degree candidate at the University of Adelaide Zainah Rahmiati believes it’s her friend’s deep roots and unassuming attitude that has helped her make a lasting impact on the lives of men and women in Papua.

“Els is a great person, but at the same time she’s very humble,” Zainah said. “She has great ideas to make a change in society. Papua is remote and a lack of infrastructure makes it difficult for Els to implement her changes, but she never gives up. She is an inspiration for agents of change.”

A tireless advocate of education, Els firmly believes training and proper schooling is essential to understanding and stopping the spread of HIV in Papua.

Her passion led her, together with her best friend Maria Goretti, to establish a children’s library in Edera, a tiny village 10 hours by car from Merauke.

Most children in Edera, Maria explained, are 8 years old before they can read or write properly.

“In the village where we opened the library, if you can go to church or to school it is already a blessing, let alone gain access to quality books,” Maria said. “The idea of starting to provide books to kids and teenagers came after I saw in the school where I teach the low interest children have for reading. In the library the school books are very old, some were published in the ’70s.”

Marice Aun, 12, dropped out from school after third grade because her parents could not afford to pay the fees. Because of the low quality of education, she barely learned how to read.

“I fell in love with books because of the reading garden,” Marice said. “I’m so happy to be able to read colorful and cute books, they are interesting. I want to keep studying, and when I grow up I want to become a midwife.” A midwife who can help Els explain the dangers of HIV across Papua.

“I want the next generation of Papuans to have a better future, to be healthier, smarter and to believe in themselves,” Els said. Campbell would be impressed.

Source: The Jakarta Globe

UNODC and Norway: Working with Indonesia to protect Jayapura’s Cyclops Mountains

Indonesia is home to the world’s third largest tropical rain forest and 10 percent of global forest cover. This has enabled Indonesia to become a key timber supplier for the legal world market.

Mr. Stig Traavik, Norway’s Ambassador to Indonesia, recently visited Papua as part of the final evaluation of the project X14, “Countering Illegal Logging and the linkage between Forest Crime and Corruption in Indonesia”.

Funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy, the project focuses on law enforcement. It uses specialized training, performance standards and the development of a coordination network to build the capacity of law enforcement agencies and judicial officers. It also engages civil society to lend valuable local support to law enforcement efforts.

Accompanied by Mr. Troels Vester, UNODC Indonesia Country Manager, Mr. Traavik met Mr. Yeri F. Dien, Jayapura District Secretary, who explained why the Norwegian government’s attention to the management and protection of the Cyclops Mountains’ Nature Reserve, the X14 pilot project area, mattered.

“Norway’s support of this UNODC forest environmental protection project is very important for the people of Papua because Cyclops Nature Reserve is our main source of water and is also home to a wide variety of rare and unusual flora and fauna,” explained Mr. Dien.

The “Countering Illegal Logging” project successfully assisted the local government to finalize its Local Regulations of Jayapura District on Protection and Management of Cyclops.

The local government also formed a state budget-funded civilian task force to protect the Cyclops Conservation Area. In addition, the project successfully established a strong coordination network among the law enforcement agencies and judicial officers. It also engaged civil society to lend valuable local support to law enforcement efforts.

With the conclusion of the “Countering Illegal Logging” project, Mr. Vester explained UNODC’s next steps to preserve Indonesia’s forests and biodiversity: “UNODC in Indonesia is responding in several ways to assist Indonesia in preserving its forests. We are committed to a new regime to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), and preparing for a fair, equitable and transparent REDD+ architecture.”

Source: UNODC

A Remote Education Plan in Papua

The Lippo Group has established a partnership with JSAT, Japan’s largest telecommunication satellite company, to build telecommunication networks in Papua in hopes of giving residents in the province’s remote areas better access to Internet and educational television programs.

Lippo Group chief executive James T. Riady said that education was the core solution to the various issues faced by the people of Papua and that the telecommunication network built by the partnership would provide basic infrastructure needed to boost access to education in the region.

“Indonesia has been independent for more than 65 years, yet there remains plenty of places that have yet to be touched by our national development efforts. As we can see, regions in Papua, especially remote areas such as Mamit and others, need infrastructure and attention in education,” James said during a visit to the Sekolah Lentera Harapan (SLH) in Sentani, Papua, last Tuesday.

JSAT has 16 satellites in Asia and has been in partnership with the Lippo Group previously. Lippo Star is the product of this partnership.

“They are willing to help in Papua, especially in the installation of VSAT [very small aperture terminals] in schools in remote areas, so that they would become connected. They provide Internet as well as the best educational programs in the world for students here to watch,” James said.

Three schools in Papua have been selected to be part of the pilot project in the partnership, namely SLH in Kampung Harapan, Kecamatan Sentani, Sekolah Papua Harapan (SPH) in the Doyo Baru village of Jayapura, as well as the SLH in Mamit Village in the Tolikara district.

In the future, the program will be aimed at other schools in remote areas, mainly those located in mountainous regions.

“The VSAT will be installed in one or two months, not just in Sentani but also in Mamit. The models will be found in two school in Sentani and one in Mamit, if the concept goes well,” James said.

Shinji Takada, chief executive of JSAT, said that they had put initial efforts to improve the quality of education and the school’s facility prior to constructing the connectivity network.

“We have sent teachers with a new concept, where education is not only offered through knowledge but also the learning process. Our teachers here are graduates of UPH [Universitas Pelita Harapan], and they have come from different parts of Indonesia to teach, with the support of local government,” Takada said.

Paul Wetipo, principal of SPH said the installation of a telecommunication network would be useful to teachers.

“This [VSAT] will open up access to the outside world, especially because education is something that continuously evolves. Accessing the internet will offer teachers more knowledge and they will also be able to guide students more effectively,” he said.

Source: The Jakarta Globe

New governor of Papua will empower separatist groups

The newly elected governor of Indonesia’s Papua province, Lukas Enembe says he will approach separatist groups and offer to empower them.

He says the government needs to listen to separatists and he expects better communication through his new approach.

Governor Enembe expected all regents facing problems with separatists to follow his lead, but he needs support from the central government.

He says the ongoing problems for citizens are injustice and a lack of prosperity.

Lukas Enembe’s administration will focus on education, welfare and development, and will use the special autonomy funds to finance the programmes.

Papua has received 2.9 billion US dollars of special autonomy funds in the last decade.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Papua development program aims to lure the young back to farming

As with many areas in Indonesia and around the world, people in Papua move from rural areas to the city. However, having lived close to their land for thousands of years their competitive streak in setting up small businesses lags behind that of migrants who have for generations had the skills to run businesses, according to Rio Pangemanan, Oxfam program manager on the Papua Enterprise Development Program.

In no corner of the town of Wamena will one see a shop that is owned or run by indigenous Papuans. Indigenous women with their noken (traditional Papuan woven bags) hanging from their heads to their backs sell sweet potatoes or vegetables on a cloth in the street markets. Young strong-limbed Papuan men push rickshaws, some even in bare feet. Others wander around the markets, intoxicated from glue-sniffing.

The UK based international development organization Oxfam is the international NGO that is allowed to operate in the province. Working with local partners, Oxfam has been supporting local farmers in five regencies in Papua in developing their farms and markets.

Oxfam supports the farmers according to the local needs and potential. For example, in Yapen Island, Oxfam has supported the Wamanuam Be Kitabono Yawa (WMY) Cooperative in cultivating vanilla beans. In Jayawijaya regency, the NGO has supported the Independent Business Foundation (Yapum) in cultivating and distributing sweet potatoes. Meanwhile in Paniai and Nabire Oxfam has supported their local partners in helping coffee farmers and in Jayapura, cacao farmers.

Oxfam’s contract ends next year, but Rio hopes that the NGO will get an extension for its programs. Rio said of the vanilla program in Serui that vanilla vines needed three years to produce beans, so new farmers would only have their first harvest in 2014. Rio said that by the end of 2014, he hoped the cooperative would be able to run independently.

Meanwhile in Wamena, Rio estimates that it will take two years for their partners to be independent in terms of management. He said that if the local government could take part in transportation and distribution of the produce, Oxfam’s partners, such as Yapum, would be able to operate independently once their management capacity had been strengthened.

In his office in Serui, Apolos Mora, the head of WMY cooperative said that for years vanilla trees grew in the wild in forests in Yapen. The Dutch brought the seeds when they opened coffee and chocolate farms on the island in the 1950s. “Before they [the Dutch] could teach the local people to cultivate vanilla, there was the transfer of power to Indonesia,” Apolos said.

One day in 2008, Apolos was reading about vanilla in the bookstore and an “Aha!” moment hit him as he realized that these plants were the ones that grew wild in the forest. When Madagascar, the largest vanilla pod producer in the world, had poor harvests, the price of vanilla pods skyrocketed to Rp 3 million (US$309) per kilogram, Apolos said. Apolos then decided to cultivate vanilla vines and trained the farmers joining his cooperative to plant vanilla too. He sells the pods to Manado, where they are exported to Europe, the US, Australia and New Zealand. Recently, the price for dried vanilla pods was Rp 115,000 per kilogram.

PEDP manager, Rio Pangemanan, said that Oxfam supported programs according to the characteristics of the area. The island and coastal areas are more developed than the mountain areas due to ease of access to other islands in Indonesia. The mountain areas meanwhile are more isolated. This results in a different variety of crops that can be profitable to produce. While farmers in Serui can sell their crops in Manado, in Wamena farmers can only sell locally.

In Jayawijaya, Oxfam supports farmers revitalizing their sweet potato farms. Partnering with Yapum, they have developed 20 sweet potato collecting points in Jayawijaya that will distribute the crops to the markets in Wamena. Rio said that these collecting points had become a place for farmer’s advocacy and education to motivate the community to return to their farms instead of leaving for the city.

Local NGOs such as Yapum and WMY cooperative say that it is not always easy advocating for farmers to cultivate vanilla beans or sweet potatoes. Farmers’ programs in Papua are often project-based, in which farmers are given money to open rice paddies or fishponds. Once the funds dry up, the projects become neglected.

Eli Tabuni, the secretary of one of the sweet potato collecting points was one of the farmers who questioned the program. “This [sweet potato farming] is our culture, why are you making a project out of this?” he asked Yapum and Oxfam during their visit there. He said that many of the programs were only temporary and were not really helpful.

Kiloner Wenda, Oxfam Sweet Potato project officer in Jayawijaya, answered Eli in the Lani language with another question. “Where are the young people now who will work on the farms?” he said. “If we don’t start now, then our culture will slowly disappear,” he said.

Rio said that the projects aimed to support indigenous Papuan farmers in developing their business sense and opening their access to markets. In Wamena, women carrying their sweet potatoes from their villages to the market have to pay for transportation to the market for their heavy bags.

Yapum encourages them to sell the potatoes for Rp 5,000 per kilogram, and they only need to drop their crops at the collecting points. This way, the women did not have to travel far to the markets and could save on transportation, Rio said.

In Serui, the program has managed to attract young farmers, but in Wamena, whether the program will succeed in bringing the young back to the farms is yet to be seen. For the kids that like to play in the farm, their dreams are to be pilots and teachers, they say. But they will always love eating sweet potatoes.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Aloysius Giyai: From dire poverty to dentistry

Aloysius Giyai

Being born into a very poor family in a remote village did not dampen Aloysius Giyai’s perseverance or determination to pursue a college education and build a successful career.

Five of Aloysius’ siblings died from malaria and cholera, leaving only Aloysius and two others, Damianus Giyai and Octovina Giyai. The deaths were partly due to the failures in Deiyai regency’s health service. The regency’s health services, as well as those in Paniai and Dogiyai regencies, were infamous for the high levels of malaria and cholera fatalities.

However, the husband of Agustina P. Katoar didn’t hesitate to recount his past.

“I reflect on my difficult and disadvantaged conditions as a child with appreciation because the experiences forged my strong personality and character,” said the 40-year-old dentist and master of public health.

His path in life, albeit marred by tragedy, led him to become a dentist and in 2009 he became director of Abepura Regional Hospital, Papua. Alo, as he is commonly called, attributes his success in part to a vow made by his father.

On Christmas Day in 1961, the Parish of Diyai village’s Catholic community had organized a party in the church yard to follow mass. All families were required to bring vegetables, cuscus meat, pork, sardines and instant noodles. Alo’s father, Giyaibo Raymondus Giyai, and his wife Yeimoumau Albertha Yeimo wanted their family to be involved with the event.

Giyaibo was confused with the demand for sardines and instant noodles because the family had never heard of them before; however, instead of giving up, he hunted and brought more than a dozen cuscus even though only two marsupials were needed. He also brought large quantities of vegetables and tubers.

Alo recalls the story of that Christmas day, when Giyaibo and his family left home at 5 a.m. and walked to church, which was 5 kilometers away.

After mass, the church committee examined the food brought by the families. When Giyaibo was asked where the sardines and noodles were, he remained silent until the church personnel showed him what they looked like.

“They are new to me. I didn’t know what to buy. So I brought more cuscus, vegetables and tubers,” he said, as told to Alo.

Giyaibo and his family were denied entry to the event and the children began to cry. Feeling deflated by the experience, they had no option but to walk home with their unwanted food.

When they got back to their owaa (home), they held a barapen (stone burning) family ritual, which was when Giyaibo, looking up at the sky, made a vow by the fireplace.

Before Ugatame (the creator), Giyaibo pledged that all his children would enjoy sardines and noodles and, through schooling, they would also observe and be engaged in the production of the luxury foods.

This episode, often retold to all of his children, instilled a determination into Giyaibo to send his kids to school at all costs, even though he and his wife were only small farmers living in a forest area.

“During our primary school years in Diyai, my father would be up before dawn preparing food for us to take to school. He taught us to observe discipline,” recalled the Airlangga University, Surabaya, East Java, master’s graduate.

Alo’s parents’ responsibilities were slightly relieved during his junior high school years because he attended a boarding school where he received spiritual guidance.

“They [the school] taught me the values of life, such as the feeling of gratitude. This strengthened my character,” said the recipient of 14 honors including The Best Executive Award from Citra Insani Foundation (2009) and Indonesia’s Most Popular 2012 from the International Human Resources Development Program Foundation.

“My dormitory life was highly beneficial,” he said, adding that if he had not stayed there, he would have had to face a 40 kilometer daily walk. Later, Alo progressed to Abepura State High School 1.

The school — a favorite of rich Papuans, officials and entrepreneurs — rarely accepted students from farmers’ families. As Alo was without the financial backing of a rich family to support his daily needs, he became a septic tank pump worker and gardener, draining nearly all the tanks in the Cenderawasih University housing complex.

As a dental medicine student at Airlangga University, he still faced financial difficulties despite a regional administration scholarship and help from relatives. So he sold dentistry instruments to fellow students.

“Thank God, my small business was doing well. What’s more, my peers as buyers came from rich families,” he said.

When he finally became a dentist and later a hospital director, he strived to improve the quality of life in his region, with the high mortality rate due to illness weighing heavy on his mind. So, during his service, he has bent the rules.

For instance, he has facilitated the treatment of poor families who lacked health social security network cards (JPS-BK) out of sympathy for the helpless patients.

“My conscience was challenged. I couldn’t let them suffer or even die. They could just show certificates from priests or customary elders. They shouldn’t face grave situations,” he stressed.

In fact, Alo was called to the Health Ministry in Jakarta to explain why he breaching the rules in the name of humanity.

“The ministry praised me. When I returned to Jayapura, [the late] governor J. P. Salossa also valued my work,” Alo added.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Papua to enjoy broadband next year

Indonesia’s easternmost province of Papua will connect to high-speed Internet. The Communications and Information Ministry said that broadband would make headway into the province in 2013.

Communications and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring said that as many as 27 provinces across Indonesia now had access to broadband Internet via the Palapa Ring.

The Palapa Ring is a project aimed at linking Sumatra, Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua to eight existing network connections, or backhauls, via approximately 35,380 kilometers of undersea and 2
1,870 kilometers of underground fiber-optic cables.

Fiber optics, unlike copper cables, enable fast data transmission, a prerequisite for broadband Internet. The ministry and a consortium of telecommunication companies kicked off the project, worth US$700 million, in 2009 and targets its completion by 2014.

“The establishing of broadband connections has been carried out across the provincial capital cities located on Java island,” he said on Tuesday (11/12).

He added that major cities and industrial hubs including Jakarta and its surrounding areas, as well as Bandung and Semarang, were already connected to broadband Internet.

However, five cities still have to wait until next year for broadband connections. “The cities include Jayapura, the capital of Papua, Manokwari [West Papua capital], and Ternate [in North Maluku], in addition to Kendari in Southeast Sulawesi and Ambon [Maluku capital],” he said.

He added that broadband penetration across the 27 provinces was “still low, lower than 12 percent”. “Ideally, the penetration rate should be at 100 percent,” he said.

He added that the government aimed to connect all major cities and industrial hubs in Indonesia with broadband connections by 2015.

“Our target is to even connect homes with fiber optic cables,” he said.

Under the national broadband plan, the government plans to transform Indonesia into a knowledge-based society by 2015 by improving Internet access. By 2020, the government expects the country to have gone digital through the application of e-government initiatives.

However, besides the still low Internet penetration rates, e-government schemes have lagged. Several regions have pushed back the disbursement dates for electronic identification, or e-KTP.

Tifatul said the contribution of information technology, which includes the Internet, toward the gross domestic production (GDP) has risen in the last decade.

A study by the World Bank shows that a 10 percent rise in broadband penetration would increase GDP by 1.38 percent.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Noken museum to be built in Papua

The Indonesian government is planning to build a museum dedicated to Papua`s woven bag, Noken, in Jayapura, the capital of Papua, in 2013, said a local official.

The education and culture ministry has been planning to build a museum since November 2011. The construction will start next year in Jayapura, said Apolos Marisan, the head of the Papua and West Papua cultural heritage preservation office, on Thursday (06/12).

The museum will be built either in the cultural park or near the Negeri Papua Museum at Expo-Waena.

The education and culture ministry held a group discussion on Wednesday, to increase the public`s awareness of Noken.

During the discussion, it was mentioned that Papua has 257 tribes and local languages, and it is estimated that there are about 257 types of Noken.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has recognised Noken as an intangible cultural heritage item of Indonesia`s eastern provinces of Papua and West Papua.

“At 10.30am (Paris time), UNESCO recognised Noken as an intangible cultural heritage item of the people living in Papua. The Indonesian delegates, including those from Papua, who were present at the meeting, are proud of Papua,” said Wiendu Nuryanti, Deputy Minister of Education and Culture, on Tuesday (December 4).

“We are keen on working with several parties to promote Noken. There is a possibility that we may request Indonesian fashion designers to include Noken in their collection of fashion accessories,” she stated.

Source: ANTARA News

Hundreds of Papua students participate in D4L

A total of 410 students from 13 schools in Jayapura, Papua, participated in the `Dance for Life` (D4L) program on Saturday to welcome the upcoming World AIDS Day on December 1, 2012.

The caretaker of the Papua chapter of Indonesia Family Planning Association (PKBI) and the manager of Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights program, Robby T, said that the D4L program was organised by the PKBI, in collaboration with the Papua Youth Forum, World Population Forum, the provincial health department and the UNICEF.

Robby noted that the main objective of the D4L program is to control the spread of HIV and AIDS in Papua, and to increase the local community`s awareness of the dangers of these lethal diseases.

Furthermore, he said that during the D4L program, students performed creative dances and took part in a paining competition on HIV and AIDS, to make the local community aware of the deadly diseases.

Meanwhile, Andre Susanto said that the aim of the World Population Forum in Papua is to increase the students’ awareness of the dangers of HIV and AIDS.

“Through the D4L program, we want to give students and teenagers as much information as possible about HIV, AIDS and reproductive health, so that they can share this knowledge with their friends,” he stated.

Source: ANTARA News