The more fiery the clash between the U.S. with the Iraqis is,

The more fiery the clash between the U.S. with the Iraqis is, the more relevant the discourse on the UN position will be. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has expressed his concern about the unjustified attack on Iraq by the coalition forces led by the U.S. But is his concern enough to help the situation?

Anxiety about the role of the UN has been acknowledged by Annan, who said that 191 UN members had asked for a session to discuss the Iraq issue, especially after the war. Indonesia, Malaysia, the Arab League and Germany had urged that a special session be held soon.

Apart from how the war would end, the UN role and position must be queried.

It is unacceptable that the U.S. is not punished for the attacks, which have killed dozens of civilians, including children, while the war was actually triggered by (President Bush's) revenge against Saddam Hussein.

The current situation has inspired National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) Ermaya Suradinata to propose that the UN undergo reform. The reform could start with establishing a more democratic system and structure within the organization, so as to give equal treatment to all its members, which are all sovereign countries. This issue (the unequal treatment) had been the reason behind then Indonesian President Sukarno's decision to quit the UN in 1963.

-- Republika, Jakarta

Whither peace in Aceh?

Doubts that Aceh would be quiet, stable and peaceful after the Dec. 5, 2002 peace deal, may be justified judging from the recent development in the province.

The peace process seems to be stagnant, making the return of military forces more likely.

Jakarta argues that the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has steadily violated the peace deal signed in Geneva five months ago.

Meanwhile, despite the peace deal, GAM is consistent in its demand for independence and refuses the special autonomy status offered by the central government.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that violations committed by GAM were serious. GAM imposes illegal taxes on the Acehnese, disturbs the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the police, recruits new members and spreads propaganda.

The uncertain situation has apparently caused the members of the Joint Security Committee (JSC) posted at eight regencies to centralize by moving to Banda Aceh.

The JSC said that the security of its members would not be guaranteed in view of the escalating tension in the province.

Now Jakarta is preparing alternatives to deal with the Aceh problems: First, halting peace efforts and launching a large scale military operation to crush GAM. Second, continuing the current peace deal and giving GAM more chances to respect the Cessation of Hostilities agreement, and to accept the unitary state of Indonesia. Third, continuing the peace process based on the Geneva agreement.

-- Harian Ekonomi Neraca, Jakarta

Literacy constraints

The disclosure made at the International Partners Forum in Islamabad the other day about growing illiteracy in the country makes dismal reading. The meeting was informed that the number of illiterates had risen from 10 million in 1950 to 50 million at present.

This is a far cry from the ambitious target of achieving 70 per cent literacy by 2004. The meeting was informed that Pakistan was facing a shortfall of Rs 253 billion under the national plan of action 'Education For All'.

Worries over insufficiency of funds are understandable, but the key question is whether a conducive environment has been created to facilitate the implementation of the plan. The drop- out rate at the primary level remains very high and the less said about community participation the better. Notwithstanding the growing stress on gender equality, educational opportunities for women are far from adequate.

The Women's Literacy for Empowerment Project aimed at making 1.1 million women functionally literate through a one-year cycle in 30,000 centers during 2002-2003. Not more than 15 per cent of such units have come up so far, however.

Non-formal education, constituting an important literacy mode, has not been made fully functional. Nor is adult literacy making any headway in the absence of proper arrangements at the grassroots level. Rising poverty levels have rendered the task increasingly more difficult.

Broad participation of key actors like the provincial governments, donor agencies and NGOs in literacy promotion is an important requirement of a viable, multipronged drive to tackle illiteracy. However, since literacy promotion is essentially a provincial subject, it is necessary to effectively coordinate efforts at this particular level to build the necessary thrust and momentum for the task in hand.

-- The DAWN, Karachi, Pakistan