'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.