Canada gives grant to Sulawesi

JAKARTA: The Canadian Ambassador to Indonesia, Randolph Mank, announced on Thursday a C$5 million grant to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to help improve the quality of social services for women and children in Sulawesi.

The initiative is the first of several major Canadian projects, totaling more than $14.4 million, aimed at enhancing local capacity to address environmental, gender, governance, and small to medium size enterprise development challenges in Sulawesi.

"We have a good network and knowledge on Sulawesi. The poverty level there is still high, yet only a few parties pay attention to the island," Mank told the press conference.

Erna Witoelar, the UN's special envoy for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Asia Pacific, said that the disparities in Indonesian development are pronounced.

"Development is imbalanced in the eastern region. Sulawesi has lagged behind other areas ... poverty is high, and so is the maternal mortality rate," said Erna, a Sulawesi native. -- JP