NGOs plan to hold rival Asia-African Summit events<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are preparing to hold a
\nseries of conferences to mark the golden jubilee of the
\nAsian-African Summit later this month, as the government has
\nrefused to let them participate in the summit.<\/p>\n
The meetings will be held in Jakarta, Bandung, Garut and
\nYogyakarta, involving at least 15 foreign and local NGOs, before
\ndelegates from more than 100 countries convene the three-day
\nsummit until April 24, in Jakarta and Bandung.<\/p>\n
Bonnie Setiawan, a member of the NGOs coalition, said on
\nTuesday the conferences would discuss \"important, substantive
\nissues neglected by the government\" in the summit.<\/p>\n
\"Local and foreign participants will discuss, among other
\nthings, poverty and interfaith issues,\" said Bonnie, director of
\nthe Institute for Global Justice (IGJ).<\/p>\n
Chris Wangkay of the International NGO Forum on Indonesian
\nDevelopment (Infid) said poverty and interfaith issues were more
\nrelevant for discussion by leaders of Asian and African countries
\nthan their political or economic partnerships.<\/p>\n
\"Most countries in Asia and Africa are poor. They should be
\nable to talk about attempts to get debt relief or reduction,\" he
\nargued.<\/p>\n
Erpan Karyadi of the Agrarian Reform Consortium said the NGOs
\nalso planned to stage rallies outside the Jakarta Convention
\nCenter (JCC) on April 22 and April 23, where the Summit will take
\nplace. One day later, the international event will continue in
\nBandung to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1955 Asia-
\nAfrica Conference.<\/p>\n
\"We hope the leaders will listen to our concerns,\" Erpan said
\nabout the planned rallies.<\/p>\n
The NGOs accused the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of shutting
\nthem out, with respect to the summit.<\/p>\n
\"During the 1955 conference, the government involved non-
\ngovernmental organizations, which later led to the freedom of
\nmost of the participants,\" Bonnie said.<\/p>\n
Participants in the 1955 event included some liberation groups
\nfrom countries in Asia and Africa, such as Algeria, which later
\ngained independence.<\/p>\n
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda has said NGOs are
\nfree to join events organized in conjunction with the summit to
\ndiscuss women's, youth and environmental issues.<\/p>\n
He said the government hopes the summit will boost cooperation
\namong participating countries.<\/p>\n
The summit is expected to produce a declaration on a strategic
\npartnership between countries from both continents, a ministers'
\nstatement consisting of action plans for the partnership and a
\nstatement involving an early warning system for tsunamis for
\ncountries across the Indian Ocean<\/p>\n
As many as 55 heads of states have confirmed their attendance
\nat the summit. The government has invited 105 countries,
\nincluding 70 heads of states from Asia and Africa.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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