People's Forum opens acrimoniously<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post,
\nNusa Dua, Bali<\/p>\n
Despite internal friction, the Indonesian People's Forum (IPF)
\nopened with a colorful series of activities on Sunday, including
\na traditional music festival, children's drawing competition and
\na bicycle rally.<\/p>\n
The event, organized by a coalition of non-governmental
\norganizations, is intended to serve as a forum for civil society
\ngroups to express their views and expectations regarding the
\ncoming UN ministerial meeting on sustainable development.<\/p>\n
"This is the place where people can express themselves freely
\nand convey their messages to the delegations that are talking
\nabout the world's future," I Gusti Ngurah Karyadi of the IPF
\norganizing committee said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The people's forum is a fringe event of the fourth preparatory
\ncommittee meeting for the World Summit on Sustainable Development
\n(WSSD) currently underway in Nusa Dua, Bali.<\/p>\n
NGOs, and eight other civil society groups, including farmers,
\nindigenous people and businesses, have been involved in the
\nmulti-dialog meetings with government delegations currently
\nnegotiating at the preparatory committee meeting.<\/p>\n
Since early in the morning, Balinese Bleganjur music groups
\nfrom five regencies paraded around the Nusa Dua resort in their
\ntraditional customs giving tourists a wonderful glimpse of the
\nisland's traditions.<\/p>\n
The music groups from Tabanan, Karang Asem, Gianyar, Singaraja
\nand Bangli regencies performed their music in different areas of
\nthe resort before heading to the Amphitheatre in Nusa Dua, where
\nthe opening of the Indonesian People's Forum took place.<\/p>\n
Many tourists and foreign delegation members stood on the
\nroadsides waiting for a chance to get photos of the traditional
\nmusic groups.<\/p>\n
Just as the Bleganjur groups were walking down the road
\nplaying their music, hundreds of people on their old-style
\nbicycles entered Nusa Dua after completing a 15-kilometer ride
\nfrom Sanur to join the forum's opening ceremony in the
\nAmphitheater.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, at the beach near the Amphitheater, dozens of
\nchildren assembled to participate in a drawing competition titled
\n"The earth of my dream".<\/p>\n
The lively events were, however, tainted by the obvious
\nconflict among members of the coalition of non-governmental
\norganizations.<\/p>\n
The conflict started when dozens of NGO activists rallied to
\nurge the boycotting of the preparatory committee meeting. They
\ndistributed leaflets calling on fellow activists to boycott the
\nUN event.<\/p>\n
The organizing committee of the Indonesian People's Forum
\nappeared stunned by the leaflets, with dozens of NGOs mentioned
\nas endorsing the boycott.<\/p>\n
IPF chief coordinator Emmy Hafild, who is also the executive
\ndirector of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), was
\nseen crying and discussing the matter with Urban Poor Consortium
\nexecutive director Wardah Hafidz as they had both been unaware of
\nthe existence of the leaflets.<\/p>\n
The incident halted the IPF's activities inside the
\nAmphitheater.<\/p>\n
Following the incident, however, IPF coordinator Dewi
\nSuryalaga said: "There is a lot of friction inside the NGOs, but
\nwe will let the dissenting opinions be aired and we will continue
\nto participate in scheduled IPF events."<\/p>\n
Other events continued after the organizing committee managed
\nto persuade the group of people calling for the UN meeting to be
\nboycotted to tone down their demands.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/peoples-forum-opens-acrimoniously-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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