Australian aid for women's rights

The Australian government has donated Rp 10 million in aid to improve public awareness of women's rights in Irian Jaya. The funds have been transferred to Fokker Irian Jaya which is a forum for various non-governmental organizations in the province, including KKW Jayapura, P3W-GKI Irja, LBH and YPMD.

The forum has been dealing with efforts to expose women's rights issues, focusing on sexual harassment and violence against women. Newspaper and police reports have revealed an increasing number of rapes in the province.

The Australian aid will be used to finance a study on rape and violations of women's rights, to disseminate information and to educate the public through the media and workshops. It will also go toward the development of an information center and counseling for sexual harassment victims.

The aid was presented by Jacqui Delacy, first secretary for development cooperation at the Australian embassy in a meeting in Jayapura. Also present was Jayapura Regent Yan Pieter Karafir and members of local NGOs.

According to Delacy, Australia is delighted to be able to help the organizations in dealing with problems concerning women.

Violence against women is one of 10 issues to be discussed in the upcoming the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in September this year. Australia has been a leading donor in the Pacific region.

While in Jayapura, Delacy also visited the Indonesia-Australia Technical and Vocational Education Project, Part A. The four-year A$19.4 million project is funded by Australian Agency for International Development (AusAid). The project also covers several other provinces apart from Irian Jaya.

AMORO H. HANI

AusAid

Jakarta