2) Has COVID-19 deepened West Papua’s HIV epidemic?
3) Yahukimo should achieve food resilience for Papua Pegunungan: KSP
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1) Papuan scribe bags Indonesia's press freedom award
Victor Mambor, co-founder of tabloid Jubi, is often targeted for reporting on human rights issues
By Ryan Dagur Published: August 09, 2022 09:37 AM GMT
Victor Mambor, a native Papuan journalist has won Indonesia's press freedom award. (Photo: Facebook)
A native Papuan journalist known for reporting on human rights issues has been awarded the press freedom award by an Indonesian journalists' organization.
Victor Mambor, the co-founder of tabloid Jubi, the largest media in Papua, was presented the Udin Award on the 28th anniversary of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) on Aug. 7.
The award is named after the pen name used by Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin, a journalist of the Yogyakarta-based Bernas Daily who died after being attacked by two unknown assailants on August 16, 1996.
Mambor hoped the award would remind the public that “intimidation, criminal, physical, verbal and digital violence against journalists is still happening” and the media in Papua is fighting daily for its freedom to report.
"If we believe that the press is the fourth pillar of democracy, then we should encourage better press freedom in the land of Papua so that democracy will do better too," he said.
AJI said that Mambor has consistently raised human rights violations in Papua through his journalism since 1996. He has written in Indonesian and international media, and also co-founded the tabloid Jubi.
"With Jubi, Victor brings more voices from Papua, in the midst of the dominance of information that is biased, unilateral and discriminates against Papua," AJI said.
Due to his experience, Mambor is also known as a mentor for young journalists in the easternmost region.
In June, he conducted training in journalism for seminarians in the three dioceses of Papua as part of a program organized by the Franciscan Secretariat for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation.
Yuli Langowuyo, executive director of the Franciscan Secretariat for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, said Mambor is very deserving of the award because of his dedication and consistency as a journalist.
She further lauded him for sparing his knowledge and time with the grassroots community during the training of seminarians.
“Even though his work as a journalist, especially in Papua, brings danger to himself and his family, we do not see him resigning from his journalism work,” she told UCA News.
Bambang Muryanto, one of the award’s jury said, it is not easy for a journalist like Mambor to maintain professionalism and independence in conflict-torn Papua.
“His own safety and that of his family is at stake. The remoteness of his location also poses several challenges in presenting a comprehensive picture,” he said.
Mambor has been intimidated on several occasions for his reporting.
The UN Human Rights Council in September 2021 called him a humanitarian and a rights activist who experienced frequent acts of violence and intimidation.
"Threats are certainly like daily food for him and other journalists in armed conflict areas," Muryanto said.
Papua has seen conflict since becoming a part of Indonesia in 1969 with continued resistance by armed pro-independence groups.
The province is ranked 33 among the country’s 34 provinces as per the Press Freedom Index released by Indonesia’s Press Council in January.
The Indonesian government restricts foreign journalists from visiting the region.
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2) Has COVID-19 deepened West Papua’s HIV epidemic?
Adding fuel to the fire
JENNY MUNRO, ELS RIEKE TIENEKE KATMO, YUSTINA WAMBRAUW
About the Author
Jenny Munro Dr Jenny Munro is an anthropologist and Lecturer in the University of Queensland’s School of Social Science.
In West Papua, HIV and social inequality go hand in hand, and COVID-19 has made things even worse, Jenny Munro, Els Rieke Tieneke Katmo, and Yustina Wambrauw write.
HIV is rife in West Papua. The Indonesian province is reported to have the
highest levels of infection outside of West Africa, with Indigenous peoples particularly affected.
Rampant social inequality, militarisation, and stigma magnify the impact of the disease. Research
has shown that disease follows, and worsens, social inequalities, with West Papuan women in particular facing triumvirate barriers of economic
disenfranchisement, sexism, and racism.
Further, in rural areas, a largely unregulated frontier economy based on extractive industries restricts effective intervention, whilst the healthcare responses that do exist struggle to manage.
This would be an imposing suite of challenges at the best of times. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has made things even worse.
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS has been raising the alarm for some time, with its executive director
saying recently “progress in AIDS, which was already off track, is now under even greater strain as the COVID-19 crisis continues to rage, disrupting HIV prevention and treatment services, schooling, violence prevention programmes and more.”
This assessment has been reinforced by locals in West Papua’s Bintuni Bay, who across a range of
interviews conducted by Dr Els Rieke Tieneke Katmo and Yustina Wambrauw, indicate that HIV prevention has stalled for the last two years.
Public health regulations directed at the pandemic diverted resources and restricted health workers’ mobility. This left them unable to conduct HIV outreach activities in settings like schools, healthcare providers, and entertainment venues.
Concerningly, this overworking and diversion of health workers has also affected HIV reporting, meaning the true scale of the epidemic remains unknown. As such, the deterioration of health and social conditions, esepically in rural Papua, has been largely invisible to urban-dwelling researchers and policymakers.
In equally troubling news, some community and government leaders have maintained that HIV is not a problem in their areas, and even that there are no cases of the disease. However, the vast majority of health workers believe that given limited testing and unreliable reporting, the cases they are aware of are just the tip of the iceberg. This has long been the case in West Papua, where historically most infections have not been detected.
Health workers believe most new cases are in young people and
married women – often via their husbands. This unfortunately adds another barrier to detection, as many women see seeking out a HIV test as an admission that they themselves are engaging in extramarital sex.
The structure of local economies in West Papua are also a factor contributing to the spread of HIV, along with sexually transmitted infections and violence. Frequently, local male employees of mining companies maintain multiple sexual partners, whilst government disbursements of ‘village funds’ have allowed widespread transactional sex and alcoholism – as well as domestic violence – to flourish.
Moreover, the pandemic has disrupted young people’s education, leading to many dropping out of school. Our informants said that the number of visibly drunk or drug-affected young people in their towns has increased.
Young people in the province often travel back and forth from their towns to larger cities, accelerating the spread of HIV. Crucially, sex education for youth in West Papua is overwhelmingly abstinence-focused, despite the fact most are sexually active and vulnerable to exploitation.
Whilst these interviews could not give a full overview of how widely HIV has spread during the COVID-19 pandemic, they do show that West Papuan locals are increasingly concerned. On a small scale, pilot programs for new HIV prevention activities are being developed with local people, but it is clear that the problem demands far more attention and resources. If there is genuine interest in addressing inequality in West Papua, Indonesia, and the region more broadly, community-based HIV prevention must return to the top of the policy agenda.
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3) Yahukimo should achieve food resilience for Papua Pegunungan: KSP
12 hour ago
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Presidential Staff Office (KSP) encouraged the Yahukimo District authority, Papua Pegunungan Province, to take all requisite measures to ensure food resilience and to supply food for the region.
"Yahukimo is not only a strategic gate to the Pegunungan Tengah territory from the southern Papua region but also has the potential to bolster food resilience in the Papua region, and even nationwide, due to its extensive agricultural land," Chief of the Presidential Staff Office Moeldoko noted in his written statement.
Moeldoko earlier met Yahukimo District Head DidimusYahuli at the Presidential Palace complex here, Tuesday.
The KSP chief highlighted the need to improve food resilience, as Yahukimo is relatively isolated due to limited road access while awaiting the completion of the new road development work.
The Yahukimo authority has readied 200 hectares of agricultural land, complete with an irrigation system, to plant rice and other commodities of high economic value, he noted.
He then urged relevant authorities to synergise in achieving food resilience in Yahukimo District.
"Driving food resilience in Yahukimo is not easy, particularly as the district was hit by famine in 2009, despite Yahukimo having great potential to be the food centre. All parties must exert their efforts to achieve this," Moeldoko emphasized.
Meanwhile, Yahuli expressed optimism that the government will assist the regional government to develop road infrastructure connecting Yahukimo to Wamena and Jawayijaya regions as well as to open logistics and transportation roads from and to Yahukimo.
"Yahukimo is very strategic, (with) its total area spanning 17,152 square kilometres, and the total population reaching 350,880 people. Regions in Papua Pegunungan have been closer than ever, and new roads and access from and to Yahukimo can bolster the progress in Papua Pegunungan," Yahuli remarked.
On June 30, the House of Representatives passed three bills on the establishment of three new provinces in Papua into law during a plenary session at the Parliament Complex.
They were bills on the establishment of Papua Pegunungan Province, South Papua Province and Central Papua Province.
Related news: Parliament ratifies bills for carving out new Papua provinces
Related news: Papua division bill guarantees affirmative action for native residents
Related news: Delving into the new landlocked Papua Pegunungan Province
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