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Australia’s
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bob Carr, announced on Sunday that Australia
would help about three million Indonesian women with jobs, family planning and
increased protection against domestic violence as part of a $60 million aid
program.
“Indonesia
continues to make strong progress in women’s rights, education and jobs. Nearly
half of all school students are girls, and more women than men are enrolled in
universities,” said the minister, who is on his first official visit to
Indonesia.
“But there’s
more to be done, especially in rural and eastern Indonesia where female
literacy, income and reproductive health are poor.”
He cited
the stark statistical contrast between Indonesia and Australia: “An Indonesian
woman is 30 times more likely to die in childbirth than her Australian
counterpart.”
He
continued, “Many women continue to have little or no say in communal
decision-making — a result of poor economic and social standing. That’s why
we’re reaching out to three million rural women — helping them with jobs,
anti-violence programs and choices on whether, when and how many children to
have. And this program has strong Indonesian support — another sign of
Australia’s close relationship with our northern neighbor.”
According
to a statement from AusAID, the program will be delivered, beginning later this
year, “by AusAID through Indonesian providers and in-country non-government
organizations.”
Over the
next four years, the initiative will help poor women find local jobs and fight
discrimination at work, fund social programs such as health care and schooling
for children, and provide contraception and family planning advice, among other
objectives.
Carr also
announced a $215,000 grant to support the Unesco program in Borobudur,
Indonesia.
The Borobudur
temple site, a Unesco World Heritage site, is one of Indonesia’s most popular
tourist destinations, “but few tourist dollars flow to local families.” Carr
said. “The benefits from Borobudur’s popularity should reach the 55,000 local
villagers who call this area home.”
The
Australian program mainly seeks “to boost local jobs and tourism income through
training for local workers on heritage tourism and quality handicraft
production,” according to a press release.
“There is
tremendous potential to help local communities by bringing their handicrafts,
such as textiles, ceramics and wood carving to international tourists,” Carr
said. “The hundreds of thousands of Australians who visit Borobudur would be
pleased to know they are also supporting the local community.”
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