Australia pledges more assistance

Australia pledges more assistance

JAKARTA: Australia has pledged an additional A$5 million to
support the election process in Indonesia through the technical
assistance scheme of the United Nations Development Program
(UNDP).

The additional pledge brings Australia's total contribution to
A$15 million, of which A$14.2 million is being channeled through
UNDP. Australia is the second largest contributor through the
UNDP Technical Assistance Program to support the Indonesian
elections, a UNDP statement said.

Earlier, on March 2, Australian Ambassador to Indonesia John
P. McCarthy signed a memorandum of understanding with Ravi Rajan,
resident representative of UNDP Indonesia and resident
coordinator of the UN System, regarding a A$9.2 million
contribution.

Of the fresh aid, A$4.25 million is earmarked to support
national monitoring organizations and the rest is to support
voter information drives.