'Focus on education, health': UN official

'Focus on education, health': UN official

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia should cut its military budget and
spend more on education and health, two areas where the country's
conditions are deteriorating, a UN official has said.

Stephen J. Woodhouse, United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef)
representative for Malaysia and Indonesia, said here on Wednesday
that Indonesia's spendings on education and health were less than
its neighbors', such as Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.

Indonesia's spendings on education amounts to only 8 percent
of the country's total budget. In Malaysia, Thailand and
Singapore expenditures on education account for 18 percent of
their total budgets.

Woodhouse said Unicef was very concerned about the conditions
of health and education in Indonesia. Since this large
archipelagic country was declared in a state of economic crisis,
the two sectors had continued to be neglected, he said.

Statistical data indicates a high school dropout rate and
declining health conditions among children, especially babies,
pregnant and breast-feeding mothers, he said. The number of
children out of elementary school alone, for instance, is now
over 6.5 million.

Many children have malnutrition. This condition, according to
Hidayat Syarif, deputy chief for human resource at the National
Development Planning Board (Bappenas), is very worrying because
it could lead to the so-called "lost generation" in the next 20
years.

Woodhouse further disclosed that every 20 minutes in
Indonesia, a mother dies in childbirth. The cause of death in 60
percent of these cases is malnutrition, while every 40 seconds, a
baby is born underweight.

"Underweight babies have a tendency to die before they reach
age five. Besides, they are also susceptible to malnutrition,
diabetes, heart attack and low intelligence," he said.

Ironically, the government allocates a big amount of its
budget to the security sector, namely as much as US$2.3 billion
per year. Therefore, Unicef was calling on Indonesia to reduce
its military budget and spend the released funds on the social
sector.

"The best strategy for Indonesia to ensure its security is to
empower its families," he said.

In a separate report from East Java capital of Surabaya,
Antara said the World Bank would allocate funds for improving
basic educational quality in elementary to junior high school
students in three provinces -- East Java, South Sulawesi and Aceh
-- for the 2000/2004 academic years.

The plan was conveyed by a World Bank team and officials of
the regional education and culture office led by Brigitte Duces
in a meeting with East Java Governor Imam Utomo here on Thursday.

According to the Regional Development Planning Board's Alex
Amirullah, assistance allocated for East Java would be
distributed to eight regencies: Probolinggo, Bondowoso,
Situbondo, Jember, Lumajang, Pacitan, Sumenep and Sampang.