UNFPA executive visits Indonesia

JAKARTA: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director, Thoraya Obaid, will visit Indonesia to promote gender equality and equity in the country.

Arriving on Monday, Obaid will start her 10-day tour here with a meeting with former president Abdurrahman Wahid and his wife Shinta Nuriyah, who is also known as a gender reformist. Later in the day, Obaid is scheduled to hold talks with the head of the National Family Planning Board Sumarjati Arjoso and leaders of major Muslim organizations, including Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah.

Obaid will travel to Aceh on Wednesday and Thursday to monitor UNFPA humanitarian work in the tsunami-struck province.

A series of meetings with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari and Aceh and Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency head Kuntoro Mangkusubroto are still tentative, the UNFPA said in a statement. -- JP