Jakarta – Indonesia’s active participation in international fora shows the country’s exercise of its 1945 Constitution and its free-and-active foreign affairs policy. Representing Indonesia, the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) also participated actively during the the 35th Meeting of the Executive Committee of Partners in Population and Development (PPD) that took place on July 14, 2021. Attending the virtual meeting was an honor for Indonesia, as the country is now part of the Executive Committee as Treasurer of Partners in Population and Development (PPD) for office term 2021-2023.
“This is Indonesia’s second participation in the PPD’s Executive Committee Meeting. As the Treasurer of the Committee, Indonesia hopes that every program and activity can be realized as planned and we can maintain financial mechanism accountability. Accountability is important for all member states. The budget allocated for the programs must result in meaningful outputs for PPD members,” said Prof. Rizal Damanik, Ph.D, in his remarks on behalf of Indonesia during the 35th Meeting of the Executive Committee of PPD.
As Treasurer, Indonesia also provided financial report for January to June 2021 during the meeting. PPD’s fund come from the contribution of member states, the United National Populations Fund (UNFPA), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Gillespie Foundation, and other sources. “It shows the commitment of all parties to work together and help each other in solving issues around reproductive health, family planning, and population, added Prof. Damanik, who is the Deputy of Training, Research, and Development of BKKBN.
Partners in Population and Development (PPD) was established under the initiative of governments in Asia, Africa, and Latin America who share the same spirit to expand and promote South-South Cooperation in reproductive health, population, family planning, and development. As a global organization, PPD emphasizes the importance of building a mechanism to promote development by sharing experiences in these areas among its member states as an effort to build an effective partnership between the government, non-government organizations, the private sector, and research institutes.
Under the South-South Cooperation framework, through the Executive Committee Meeting, Indonesia suggested international training activities that involve all PPD members, which would create direct and significant benefits to the members. Indonesia has had a long history as part of the South-South Cooperation and has had success stories of delivering international training programs on Family Development, Population for over 5,000 program managers and staff from more than 94 countries.
In addition to Indonesia as the Treasurer of PPD’s Executive Committee, this meeting was also attended by the Chair of PPD’s Executive Committee H.E. Ms Lindiwe Zulu (South Africa), Deputy Chair of PPD’s Executive Committee H.E. Yu Xuejun (China), PPD Executive Committee Secretary Prof. Habib Ghedira (Tunisia), and PPD Executive Director Mr. Adnene Ben Haj Aissa (Bangladesh). The 35th Meeting of the Executive Committee of PPD adopted the reports of the Executive Committee’s Chair and PPD Executive Committee Secretary, as well as PPD’s financial statements. The meeting also agreed on the date of PPD Annual Meetings, namely the 36th Meeting of the Executive Committee of PPD on November 16, 2021, the Board Meeting on November 18, 2021, and the 18th International-inter-Ministerial Meeting on November 15, 22, and 29, 2021. For Indonesia, budget optimization, transparency, and accountability must be upheld to support reproductive, family planning, population, and development in PPD member states.