Kartono re-elected chairman of parenthood association
Kartono re-elected chairman of parenthood association
SEMARANG, Central Java (JP): Kartono Muhamad, a well-known
physician and columnist, was re-elected chairman of the
Indonesian Planned Parenthood Association (PKBI) at a congress
that ended yesterday.
Winning 56 votes, Kartono defeated his competitors, economist
Prijono Tjiptoherijanto and Sarlito Wirawan Sarwono, who got 26
and four votes respectively.
An affiliate of the London-based International Planned
Parenthood Federation since 1963, PKBI has been pioneering birth
control programs in Indonesia since its foundation in 1957.
Now, PKBI is known for its role in various family planning
development programs in rural areas and impoverished urban
centers.
Kartono, also chief of the Indonesian Medical Association,
said one of his main priorities is to set up training courses for
PKBI's volunteers so that they could become trainers themselves.
Currently, PKBI has less than 50 trainers for its 6,000
volunteers posted across Indonesia, he said. He also plans to
launch training programs on how to improve relationships between
parents and children.
The training programs will target not only the poor in the
villages but also better-off families in cities, where people are
not prepared for the cultural shocks that result from
increasingly inter-related world communities.
PKBI's performance has also impressed the International
Planned Parenthood Federation for East, South East Asia and
Oceania, which sends a representative to the congress.
"PKBI has a very strong network of volunteers who come from
every walk of life, from ordinary workers to noted physicians,"
Pritam Singh, the representative, said.
PKBI is striving to become financially independent in 20 to 30
years. At present, it obtains 50 percent of its money from the
International Planned Parenthood Federation.
According to Singh, of his numerous chapters in the Asia-
Pacific region, only those in Australia, New Zealand and Japan
are financially independent. (arf)