VP wants more aid from developed countries

JAKARTA: Vice President Hamzah Haz called on developing countries on Wednesday to fight for more education and family planning assistance from developed countries.

Hamzah said developing countries must improve their education systems to produce high quality human resources and promote birth control.

Citing Indonesia as an example, Hamzah said the country had put much focus on family planning since the 1950s and yet had failed to improve its people's prosperity.

Indonesia is still rated among the lowest on the education and health indexes.

Hamzah was speaking at the opening ceremony of the eight annual meeting of Partners in Population and Development and the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN) on Wednesday. The meeting will end on Oct. 17.

The Partners, a south-south countries cooperation forum, was established in 1994 by 10 countries including Indonesia, Thailand, Egypt and Columbia. It now has 19 members.

The Partners aims at promoting and improving initiatives on family planning. --JP