Canberra to help public campaign

YOGYAKARTA: Australia is allocating A$250,000 to projects aimed at facilitating the establishment of a civil society in Indonesia, an Australian official says.

Richard Woolcott of the Australia-Indonesia Institute (AII) said here Friday the fund would be used to finance the activities of some post-Soeharto non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Among programs to be prioritized in the "civil society project", Woolcott said, was the campaign for the implementation of international conventions on human rights.

Assistance will also be given to organizations advocating women's rights by, for instance, establishing trauma and rape victims centers. NGOs active in promoting legal assistance and reform in the judiciary, environmental protection, electoral reform and promotion of cooperatives will also receive help.

Woolcott said it was urgent that Indonesia, in its quest for democratization, establish a civil society.

"Australia believes it is important to respond to the ongoing crisis and changes in Indonesia," he said.

The AII decision to direct its attention toward a campaign for a civil society followed consultations with the government and various NGOs.

"Australia supports democratization here, but it is Indonesians themselves who must decide how to go about achieving a civil society," he said.

The Australia-Indonesia Institute was set up in 1989 to foster better people-to-people relations between the two countries. The institute sponsors media exchanges and scholarship for journalists. (23)