1) Indonesian diplomatic manoeuvre delays West Papuan independence
2) Aids awareness grows in Indonesia’s Papua region
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http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/content/2013/s3797365.htm
1) Indonesian diplomatic manoeuvre delays West Papuan independence
Sean Dorney reported this story on Sunday, July 7, 2013 07:16:00
SIMON SANTOW: Indonesia has invited the foreign ministers of four Pacific Island countries to visit its two easternmost provinces - Papua and West Papua - to see for themselves if the people want independence.
Those two provinces are the western half of the main island of New Guinea.
This offer is something of a diplomatic manoeuvre, successfully delaying any consideration by the Melanesian Spearhead Group, the MSG, of an application for full membership by the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation.
Pacific correspondent Sean Dorney went to the two yearly meeting of the leaders of Melanesia's sub-regional organisation, held this year in New Caledonia.
SEAN DORNEY: Twenty-five years ago, the four independent countries in Melanesia - Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea - created a sub-regional organisation, the Melanesian Spearhead Group and one of its aims was to help the Melanesian people of New Caledonia, the Kanaks, get their independence from France.
That has not happened yet but France did agree to allow the Kanak independence movement, the FLNKS (Le Front de libération nationale kanak et socialiste), to take up full membership of the Melanesian Group.
Now, the Melanesian independence movement in West Papua - the Indonesian half of the main island of New Guinea - wants to join.
At the MSG's plenary session in Noumea, Dr Otto Ondawame, the vice chairman of the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation, put their case.
OTTO ONDAWAME: Our delegation come here as the lost son of Melanesia, to come here to ask for your support. We must unite and find a viable alternative to solve the longest conflict in our region.
SEAN DORNEY: Indonesia took control of what had been to then Dutch New Guinea in 1963 and six years later gathered just over 1000 tribal leaders together to vote in favour of becoming part of Indonesia.
It was called an 'Act of Free Choice' which the United Nations accepted.
Paula Makabory, from the Institute of Papuan Advocacy and Human Rights, was part of the West Papuan delegation
PAULA MAKABORY: Yeah, I think with all of this, the MSG recognise that the Act of Free Choice was a shameful choice for West Papua.
(Dancing and singing at Official Opening)
SEAN DORNEY: At the official opening of the Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders meeting, the outgoing chairman, Fiji's military commander and prime minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, spoke of unity.
FRANK BAINIMARAMA: As a result of our shared vision for closer regional integration, MSG solidarity has never been stronger.
SEAN DORNEY: But Papua New Guinea's prime minister, Peter O'Neill, visited Indonesia instead of attending the MSG meeting while his stand-in, the deputy prime minister Leo Dion made it clear to the other MSG Leaders that PNG regarded West Papua as an integral part of Indonesia.
Fiji revealed that Indonesia had offered to host a visit by Melanesian foreign ministers and so Fiji suggested the membership application by the West Papuans be put on hold.
Vanuatu's prime minister Moana Carcasses made an impassioned plea on behalf of the West Papuans, and Sir Michael Somare, invited as an elder statesman, summed up the situation well although he was not referring directly to West Papua.
SIR MICHAEL SOMARE: In Melanesia we are also very divided. We are not united. We have to unite. The only course we can take is when we are united people you can beat your enemy.
SEAN DORNEY: In the end the communiqué said the West Papuan's application would be considered after the foreign ministers of the MSG countries visited Indonesia.
However, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu insisted on the inclusion of two critical sentences. The first said that "Leaders endorsed that the MSG fully supports the inalienable rights of the people of West Papua towards self-determination…" and the second said the Leaders agreed that "the concerns of the MSG regarding the human rights violations and other forms of atrocities relating to the West Papuan people be raised with the government of Indonesia".
SEAN DORNEY: The reactions of the West Papuan delegation to the Communiqué were mixed. Dr Otto Ondawame was relieved.
OTTO ONDAWAME: We are very happy that our application has not been thrown out, but is still there on the agenda of the MSG.
SEAN DORNEY: But the secretary-general of the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation, Rex Rumakiek, doubted the value of a ministerial trip to Indonesia.
REX RUMAKIEK: They will come back empty-handed. They won't see the people they really want to see and that means it's a waste of time. Better to make a decision right now instead of going to Indonesia.
SEAN DORNEY: Melanesian foreign ministers' visit to Jakarta and the Papuan provinces should take place before the end of the year.
This has been Sean Dorney for Correspondents Report.
Those two provinces are the western half of the main island of New Guinea.
This offer is something of a diplomatic manoeuvre, successfully delaying any consideration by the Melanesian Spearhead Group, the MSG, of an application for full membership by the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation.
Pacific correspondent Sean Dorney went to the two yearly meeting of the leaders of Melanesia's sub-regional organisation, held this year in New Caledonia.
SEAN DORNEY: Twenty-five years ago, the four independent countries in Melanesia - Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea - created a sub-regional organisation, the Melanesian Spearhead Group and one of its aims was to help the Melanesian people of New Caledonia, the Kanaks, get their independence from France.
That has not happened yet but France did agree to allow the Kanak independence movement, the FLNKS (Le Front de libération nationale kanak et socialiste), to take up full membership of the Melanesian Group.
Now, the Melanesian independence movement in West Papua - the Indonesian half of the main island of New Guinea - wants to join.
At the MSG's plenary session in Noumea, Dr Otto Ondawame, the vice chairman of the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation, put their case.
OTTO ONDAWAME: Our delegation come here as the lost son of Melanesia, to come here to ask for your support. We must unite and find a viable alternative to solve the longest conflict in our region.
SEAN DORNEY: Indonesia took control of what had been to then Dutch New Guinea in 1963 and six years later gathered just over 1000 tribal leaders together to vote in favour of becoming part of Indonesia.
It was called an 'Act of Free Choice' which the United Nations accepted.
Paula Makabory, from the Institute of Papuan Advocacy and Human Rights, was part of the West Papuan delegation
PAULA MAKABORY: Yeah, I think with all of this, the MSG recognise that the Act of Free Choice was a shameful choice for West Papua.
(Dancing and singing at Official Opening)
SEAN DORNEY: At the official opening of the Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders meeting, the outgoing chairman, Fiji's military commander and prime minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, spoke of unity.
FRANK BAINIMARAMA: As a result of our shared vision for closer regional integration, MSG solidarity has never been stronger.
SEAN DORNEY: But Papua New Guinea's prime minister, Peter O'Neill, visited Indonesia instead of attending the MSG meeting while his stand-in, the deputy prime minister Leo Dion made it clear to the other MSG Leaders that PNG regarded West Papua as an integral part of Indonesia.
Fiji revealed that Indonesia had offered to host a visit by Melanesian foreign ministers and so Fiji suggested the membership application by the West Papuans be put on hold.
Vanuatu's prime minister Moana Carcasses made an impassioned plea on behalf of the West Papuans, and Sir Michael Somare, invited as an elder statesman, summed up the situation well although he was not referring directly to West Papua.
SIR MICHAEL SOMARE: In Melanesia we are also very divided. We are not united. We have to unite. The only course we can take is when we are united people you can beat your enemy.
SEAN DORNEY: In the end the communiqué said the West Papuan's application would be considered after the foreign ministers of the MSG countries visited Indonesia.
However, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu insisted on the inclusion of two critical sentences. The first said that "Leaders endorsed that the MSG fully supports the inalienable rights of the people of West Papua towards self-determination…" and the second said the Leaders agreed that "the concerns of the MSG regarding the human rights violations and other forms of atrocities relating to the West Papuan people be raised with the government of Indonesia".
SEAN DORNEY: The reactions of the West Papuan delegation to the Communiqué were mixed. Dr Otto Ondawame was relieved.
OTTO ONDAWAME: We are very happy that our application has not been thrown out, but is still there on the agenda of the MSG.
SEAN DORNEY: But the secretary-general of the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation, Rex Rumakiek, doubted the value of a ministerial trip to Indonesia.
REX RUMAKIEK: They will come back empty-handed. They won't see the people they really want to see and that means it's a waste of time. Better to make a decision right now instead of going to Indonesia.
SEAN DORNEY: Melanesian foreign ministers' visit to Jakarta and the Papuan provinces should take place before the end of the year.
This has been Sean Dorney for Correspondents Report.
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2) Aids awareness grows in Indonesia’s Papua region
A student looks to the camera at a school outside Jayapura the provincial capital of Papua, Indonesia. The prevalence rate of HIV among Papua’s youth aged between 15-24 years is about three percent.
IRIN/Jakarta
Efforts to raise awareness of HIV/Aids in the Indonesian provinces of Papua, which has among the country’s highest rates of infection, and West Papua are making steady though slow progress, say aid workers and government officials.
“People there believed that HIV/Aids was a curse from God, but that’s no longer the general perception,” said Setyo Warsono, a spokesman for the government’s National Aids Commission (KPA).
IRIN/Jakarta
Efforts to raise awareness of HIV/Aids in the Indonesian provinces of Papua, which has among the country’s highest rates of infection, and West Papua are making steady though slow progress, say aid workers and government officials.
“People there believed that HIV/Aids was a curse from God, but that’s no longer the general perception,” said Setyo Warsono, a spokesman for the government’s National Aids Commission (KPA).
Since 2005, reported HIV infections have increased in both these provinces annually, with 535 new cases reported in West Papua and 3,028 in Papua in 2012, where infection rates have outpaced the national average. In Papua new cases more than doubled from 687 in 2009 to 2,499 in 2010.
Tanah Papua (a local term that includes both Papua and West Papua provinces), 2,000km east of Jakarta, has some of the lowest levels of human development of Indonesia’s 33 provinces, according to the government.
Tanah Papua (a local term that includes both Papua and West Papua provinces), 2,000km east of Jakarta, has some of the lowest levels of human development of Indonesia’s 33 provinces, according to the government.
According to a 2012 report from the Joint UN Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAIDS), Tanah Papua was experiencing a low-level HIV epidemic, with a prevalence of 2.4% among the general population (versus a national average of 0.3%). About 30,000 people (22,210 in Papua and 7,160 in West Papua) are estimated to be living with HIV today.
HIV prevalence among people aged 15-24 in Tanah Papua is 3%.
HIV prevalence among people aged 15-24 in Tanah Papua is 3%.
In 2010 the Papua provincial government, in partnership with UN Children’s Fund (Unicef), introduced a decree to integrate HIV education in schools in Papua Province, which included curriculum development, teacher training and HIV policy support at the district level.
So far, 876 teachers in 58 secondary schools and 47 primary schools have received the training.
“From zero teachers in schools teaching HIV awareness, we’ve increased the level markedly,” said Margaret Sheehan, Unicef’s chief of office in Jayapura, the capital of Papua Province. “But there’s still a degree of reluctance from teachers to talk about how HIV can be transmitted through sex. More sensitisation work still needs to take place so teachers feel more comfortable.”
Unicef plans to incorporate HIV education into an upcoming training programme for teachers in rural areas in partnership with the Papua and West Papua governments.
But with 38% of children aged 7-15 out of school, and the highest provincial proportion of out-of-school children nationwide, aid workers are looking elsewhere to reach youths.
Unicef is offering life-skills training at youth and Protestant church clubs in a part of the country where church leaders are esteemed in the community and most youths participate in church groups.
So far, 876 teachers in 58 secondary schools and 47 primary schools have received the training.
“From zero teachers in schools teaching HIV awareness, we’ve increased the level markedly,” said Margaret Sheehan, Unicef’s chief of office in Jayapura, the capital of Papua Province. “But there’s still a degree of reluctance from teachers to talk about how HIV can be transmitted through sex. More sensitisation work still needs to take place so teachers feel more comfortable.”
Unicef plans to incorporate HIV education into an upcoming training programme for teachers in rural areas in partnership with the Papua and West Papua governments.
But with 38% of children aged 7-15 out of school, and the highest provincial proportion of out-of-school children nationwide, aid workers are looking elsewhere to reach youths.
Unicef is offering life-skills training at youth and Protestant church clubs in a part of the country where church leaders are esteemed in the community and most youths participate in church groups.
The Papua provincial KPA is using radio, TV and a well-known local football team (given young people’s love of football in the province) to disseminate HIV education.
Caritas Australia is working with a local NGO to train volunteer peer educators, as well as broadcasting HIV prevention messages through the radio and concerts in the Papuan district of Merauke.
For the NGO’s programme coordinator in Indonesia, Terry Russell, poor rural infrastructure has been one of the biggest barriers to spreading HIV education.
“Remote villages have no mobile phone contact, so pre-visits are necessary, and often roads have worsened due to weather or a bridge being down, so the process can be very time-consuming,” he said. In 2011, the government set up a unit in Papua and West Papua to accelerate infrastructure development in Papua’s remote areas, where more than onemn indigenous Papuans live, according to local media.
Caritas Australia is working with a local NGO to train volunteer peer educators, as well as broadcasting HIV prevention messages through the radio and concerts in the Papuan district of Merauke.
For the NGO’s programme coordinator in Indonesia, Terry Russell, poor rural infrastructure has been one of the biggest barriers to spreading HIV education.
“Remote villages have no mobile phone contact, so pre-visits are necessary, and often roads have worsened due to weather or a bridge being down, so the process can be very time-consuming,” he said. In 2011, the government set up a unit in Papua and West Papua to accelerate infrastructure development in Papua’s remote areas, where more than onemn indigenous Papuans live, according to local media.
Though slow, progress has been steady, say aid workers.
“In 2005, people with HIV/Aids in Merauke were shunned by their families, but now many more are accepted and many more are willing to undergo HIV/Aids testing,” said Russell. In 2008 some 5,000 people in Tanah Papua were tested for HIV; as of 31 May this year, that figure has risen to 31,443.
Unicef’s Sheehan said HIV messages on government-sponsored billboards and TV ads are now clearer. Whereas in the past there were billboards of leaders saying “We don’t want HIV”, posters now feature youths with HIV-prevention messages.
According to the KPA’s Warsono, as of 2013 the government has set up local commissions to continue raising awareness about HIV in 19 of Papua’s 29 districts, and in all of West Papua’s 13 districts.
“In 2005, people with HIV/Aids in Merauke were shunned by their families, but now many more are accepted and many more are willing to undergo HIV/Aids testing,” said Russell. In 2008 some 5,000 people in Tanah Papua were tested for HIV; as of 31 May this year, that figure has risen to 31,443.
Unicef’s Sheehan said HIV messages on government-sponsored billboards and TV ads are now clearer. Whereas in the past there were billboards of leaders saying “We don’t want HIV”, posters now feature youths with HIV-prevention messages.
According to the KPA’s Warsono, as of 2013 the government has set up local commissions to continue raising awareness about HIV in 19 of Papua’s 29 districts, and in all of West Papua’s 13 districts.
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