INDONESIA: First-Time Donor Indonesia Gives a Boost to Global AIDS, TB and Malaria Elimination

Posted by Asia Views | Jan 30, 2023 | 0 |

JakartaPost-Jan 30, 2023

With only seven years left for Indonesia to achieve its target to end AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria, the three diseases remain major health threats in the country. The overall incidence of HIV/AIDS infections in Indonesia was down by 50 percent from 52,990 cases in 2010 to 26,730 in 2020. Despite the decline, however, the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed the fight against HIV. Meanwhile, according to the World Health Organization’s Global TB Report 2022, Indonesia ranks as the second-highest contributor to global TB cases. Regarding malaria, Papua continues to be a real concern, in which cases are still on the rise, with a 13-percent increase in burden since 2019. Those facts show Indonesia still needs to make a herculean effort to prevent and control AIDS, TB and malaria, three leading infectious killers with a 2030 target for elimination. Amid the challenges, Indonesia recently announced a US$10 million pledge to The Global Fund, a move that shows the country’s commitment to helping the world combat AIDS, TB and malaria. Even the pandemic and ensuing economic slowdown did not stop Indonesia from becoming a first-time donor to The Global Fund. Indonesia was one of five Asia-Pacific countries to pledge a combined $1.3 billion contribution to The Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment Conference in New York, the United States, on Sept. 21, 2022. The other four are Japan ($1.08 billion), Australia ($177.55 million), South Korea ($100 million) and New Zealand ($1.47 million). During the conference, hosted by US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, The Global Fund raised a total $14.25 billion for the next three years to end AIDS, TB and malaria. The Global Fund’s target of $18 billion was not achieved, but it is expected that the latest pledges could help countries save millions of lives from AIDS, TB and malaria. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2023/01/30/first-time-donor-ri-gives-a-boost-to-global-aids-tb-and-malaria-elimination.html

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

INDONESIA: First-Time Donor Indonesia Gives a Boost to Global AIDS, TB and Malaria Elimination

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