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UNESCO JAKARTA
Regional Science Bureau for Asia and the Pacific
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Foreword
Welcome to our quarterly newsletter in 2019!
UNESCO Jakarta quarterly newsletter of 2019 highlights the activities of UNESCO Jakarta from May to August 2019 in supporting its Cluster Countries: Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Timor-Leste in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through projects in Education, Natural Sciences, Social and Human Sciences, Culture, as well as Communication and Information.
In this edition, UNESCO Jakarta held several regional activities. Jointly with the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and the Maritime Local Government Network organized a Regional Workshop on building national and local capacity on measuring science, engineering, technology and innovation for sustainable development goals in Jakarta. For the first time ever, UNESCO brought together cultural policy makers and UNESCO representatives across Asia in a Regional Training of Trainers on Cultural Policy Monitoring in Asia in Jakarta, Indonesia.
In Indonesia, UNESCO Jakarta joined UNDP in strengthening capacity of Bali schools teachers on tsunami preparedness, and supported the Indonesian women artisans working with natural dyed batik. UNESCO Jakarta also promoted Inclusive Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Policy and organized a training workshop on Freedom of Expression and Countering Disinformation for Indonesian Civil Servants in fighting disinformation in the digital age.
In Lao PDR, UNESCO Jakarta supported the Future Ready ASEAN Training for Trainers. UNESCO Jakarta also organized the “Workshop for the Drafting of Water Management Curriculum for Africa” in Jakarta. In the Philippines, UNESCO has done the mapping and tagging of existing alternative learning resources for ALS and launched a national launch of the 2019 Global Education Monitoring Report.
We are delighted to share more exciting news in this second edition of 2019 newsletter.
Shahbaz Khan
Director and Representative
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Mapping and Tagging of Existing Alternative Learning Resources for ALS Equivalent to K-12 Basic Education in the Philippines
In collaboration with the Philippines’ Department of Education (DepEd) and the Asia Pacific College (APC), UNESCO Office, Jakarta organized a “Workshop on the Mapping and Tagging of Alternative Learning Resources for Alternative Learning System Equivalent to K-12 Basic Education” on 5-9 August 2019 at the APC Campus in Makati City, Philippines.
The workshop is a series of eight (8) key activities to produce the ALS learning materials, specifically the ALS teacher’s guidebook and ALS learner’s books.
The output of the workshop is the first draft of the new modules/teaching-learning materials for ALS from the six learning strands. The participants consist of expert staff from the Department of Education such as from the ALS National Task Force, Bureau of Learning Resources (BLR) and Bureau of Learning Delivery (BLD) together with the workshop facilitators of APC, the consultant, content experts and writers including lay out artists/illustrators.
Funding support: Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
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National Launch of the 2019 Global Education Monitoring Report in the Philippines
Manila, 01 August 2019 – UNESCO Jakarta Office and the Philippines’ Department of Education convened donors, education and humanitarian experts, policy-makers, teachers and students as well as the donors to launch the 2019 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report.
The launch aimed at increasing awareness of the Report’s messages and recommendations with the broader education community, with those working on humanitarian responses, and specifically with government officials and policy-makers. The theme of this year’s GEM Report is “Migration, displacement and education: Building bridges, not walls.” In the Report estimates that, in 2017, there were 258 million international migrants and over 87 million people displaced, due to either conflict, persecution or natural disaster.
In the case of the Philippines, the report shows that migration has affected the country positively. The Philippines showed an increase in school attendance and reduced child labour due to the rise in international remittances from the migrant workers. Around 1.5 to three million children in the Philippines have parents living abroad, and the majority of them spend remittances they receive on education. On the other hand, conflicts in some parts of the country and natural disasters resulting in internal displacement continue to exacerbate people’s vulnerability as this deprives them access to quality education. The Alternative Learning System (non-formal education) is one of the recognized solutions mentioned in the report that can help children whose education was interrupted by displacement
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UNESCO Joined Philippines' Brigada Eskwela
On 24 May 2019, UNESCO participated in Brigada Eskwela at Alternative Learning System Community Learning Center (ALS CLC) of the Department of Education (DepEd) Division of Pasay City, Philippines. Brigada Eskwela or "National Schools Maintenance Week” is an annual nationwide event initiated by the Philippines’ DepEd which ran from 20 to 25 May for this year. It aims to bring together all education stakeholders to participate and contribute their time, effort, and resources to prepare public school facilities for the opening of the school year in June.
UNESCO participation in Brigada Eskwela is part of the project "Better Life for Out-of-School Girls Fight Against Poverty and Injustice in the Philippines", which is implemented together with the Philippines' DepEd with financial support from Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
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The 3rd Beautiful Girl Inside Out: Personality Development for Alternative Learning System Learners
Fifty-eight Alternative Learning System (ALS) girl-learners benefited from the third “Beautiful Girl Inside Out: Personality Development for ALS Learners”, a self-care initiative for girl-learners on 16 May 2019. This initiative was held at “Home for Girls”, a center that provides protection, care, treatment and rehabilitation to abused and exploited girls managed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Pawing, Palo, Leyte, Philippines. The participants, ranging from 7 to 19 years old, are the current residents of the center.
This initiative was organized and implemented within the framework of the UNESCO and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) project “Better Life for Out-of-School Girls Fight Against Poverty and Injustice in the Philippines” with the support of Philippines’ Department of Education (DepEd).
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Asian Water Cycle Management in Focus at the World Water Week
Together with other partners in the Asia Pacific Water Forum, UNESCO Office Jakarta highlighted the state of water in Asia at the 2019 Stockholm World Water Week on 27 August 2019.
UNESCO Jakarta showcased UNESCO’s water science work and facilitated a discussion on the contributions of water cycle management in Asia and the Pacific towards fulfilment of the targets under SDG6. With contributions by speakers from across the region, particular emphasis was placed ways to scale up innovative practices to maximize impact while remaining inclusive.
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Coding Computer Skills Training for Youth in Laos
UNESCO Office Jakarta supported the Future Ready ASEAN Training for Trainers in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 19 and 20 August 2019 in collaboration with the Department of Computer Engineering and Information Technology, National University of Laos, ASEAN Foundation, Microsoft Philanthropies, and Empire Code. Future Ready ASEAN is an online learning platform to empower all learners, in particular, underserved youth and young women, on digital skills to enable them to thrive in the fourth industrial revolution.
Thirty participants consisted of 22 men and eight women, trained to be the Master Trainers in Lao PDR. The Master Trainers will be providing digital skills and computer science training to underserved youth in their communities using the Future Ready ASEAN online learning platform. The Future Ready ASEAN is structured along four learning tracks that lead to 12 completion badges. Once the advanced level has been achieved for a given track, students are invited to pursue additional online courses leading to Microsoft's industry-recognised certifications.
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UNESCO Joined UNDP in Strengthening Capacity of Bali School Teachers on Tsunami Preparedness
 UNESCO office Jakarta, through the Indian Ocean Tsunami Information Centre of UNESCO-IOC (IOTIC) supported UNDP Indonesia in strengthening school teachers’ capacity in Badung district, Bali on tsunami preparedness. The activity is part of UNDP’s programme on Partnerships for Strengthening School Preparedness for Tsunamis in the Asia Pacific region supported by the Japanese government. In Indonesia, UNDP implemented this activity in collaboration with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and IOTIC of UNESCO-IOC.
The programme started in 2017 in 9 schools in Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar, and 3 Schools in Bali (Tanjung Benoa, Badung District). This year the activity focuses in Badung District, Bali with the Training of Facilitators of 28 teachers of 14 Schools to be followed up with school action plan and tsunami exercise (simulation).
The Bali Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) and the Disaster Management Office of Badung District (BPBD Badung) have committed to continue to support these schools in the preparation and implementation of this action plans and possibilities to be included in the BPBD’s safe school programme for 2020.
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UNESCO Centres draft Water Management Curricula for Africa
 On 24-25 July 2019, UNESCO Jakarta organized the “Workshop for the Drafting of Water Management Curriculum for Africa” in Jakarta. Five water-related Category 2 Centres and Chairs in Africa and Asia: Regional Centre for Integrated River Basin Management (Nigeria), African Regional Centre on Ecohydrology (Ethiopia), UNESCO Chair on Ecohydrology and Transboundary Water Management (Tanzania), Humid Tropics Centre Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), and the Asia Pacific Centre for Ecohydrology (Indonesia), and two Indonesian universities, participated in the workshop to jointly draft a Water Management Curricula for Africa.
The curriculum is being developed to reflect sub-Saharan Africa’s water education gaps and needs. The participants discussed the current state of water education in sub-Saharan Africa and the most critical water challenges in East and West Africa, and how ecohydrology and Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) could address the issues.
Supported by Malaysia Funds-in-Trust, this activity makes a particular contribution towards SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), SDG 15 (life on land) and SDG 4 (quality education).
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Supporting the Indonesian Women Artisans Working with Dyed Batik
 UNESCO organized a training on “Grassroots Innovation: Technical Assistance, Capacity Building and Mentoring on Social Entrepreneurship Development in the Field of Natural Dye for Batik” in Yogyakarta, Indonesia from 19 to 21 June 2019. More than 30 women artisans, affiliated with Gamaindigo Natural Dye Batik of Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Association of Natural Colours Indonesia (Warlami/Perkumpulan Warna Alam Indonesia), Dian Desa Foundation as well as researchers from the Centre for Crafts and Batik (BBKB/Balai Besar Kerajinan dan Batik) of the Indonesian Ministry of Industry, were participated in the training.
The training was held as part of a partnership between the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and UNESCO on the project “Supporting the Development of an Innovation Acceleration Platform – Science Park and Technology Business Incubator in Indonesia” to promote grassroots level innovation in improving the technic of Natural Dyed Batik and its promotion for global market.
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Building National and Local Capacity on Measuring SETI for SDGs in the Asia and the Pacific Region
UNESCO Jakarta jointly with the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs (KEMENKOMAR) and the Maritime Local Government Network (LGN) organized a Regional Workshop on building national and local capacity on measuring science, engineering, technology and innovation for sustainable development goals in Jakarta, from 17-19 June 2019.
The Regional Workshop aimed to encourage the achievement of SDGs targets through increasing national and local capacity for countries in the Asia Pacific, especially Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) member countries.
With the support of the Malaysia-UNESCO Cooperation Program (MUCP), UNESCO implemented a project to Facilitate in Accelerating Science and Technology in the region, known as AP-FAST. This project aims to help enable the achievement of the global agenda and related targets at regional and national levels and increase coherence between national and global development plans.
The Malaysia-UNESCO Cooperation Programme (MUCP) through the Facilitate in Accelerating Science and Technology (AP-FAST) project supported this regional workshop.
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SOCIAL AND HUMAN SCIENCES
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Enabling Sustainable Development through Sport: UNESCO's Funshop on Sport and the SDGs
Seventy youth activists from across Asia-Pacific who are using sport for positive social transformations in their countries will converge in Seoul, Republic of Korea, for the 2019 Funshop on Sport and the SDGs, lasting from 5 to 8 September. Supported by Lee Seung-Yuop Baseball Foundation, the 2019 Funshop will demonstrate what it means for sport to be “an important enabler of sustainable development.” Through structured exchanges that will draw on their own experiences, as well as capacity-building modules delivered by experienced facilitators, the youth will gain a deeper understanding of the role that sport can play in achieving specific SDG targets.
UNESCO’s Youth and Sport Task Force has selected the youth participants, determined the agenda, and will lead the delivery of the Funshop, following UNESCO’s commitment to promote actions that are “by youth, with youth, for youth.”
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Promoting Inclusive Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Policy in Indonesia
11 July 2019, Jakarta, Indonesia
How can Indonesia’s TVET system meet the needs of industry and ensure students from all social groups have equal access to quality education? This is the key question addressed by the participants of today’s workshop, organized jointly by UNESCO and Lembaga Demografi Universitas Indonesia (Institute of Demography of University of Indonesia.
The workshop kicks off the project designed by UNESCO to assess the national TVET policy from the angle of social inclusion, to identify barriers that may preclude certain groups from accessing TVET, and to work with policymakers to remove these barriers. This project directly contributes to the national efforts towards the achievement of SDGs 4 (Quality Education); SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth); and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).
To contribute to the development of a TVET system in Indonesia that is in line with the human rights framework and meets the future labour market demands in the country, UNESCO is collaborating with Lembaga Demografi Universitas Indonesia, to carry out a project designed to conduct research and deliver capacity building on inclusive TVET. The inception workshop was an occasion to launch a research and analysis involving multiple national stakeholders repressing the government and the various civil society groups working towards social inclusion.
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Regional Training of Trainers on Cultural Policy Monitoring in Asia
The UNESCO 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions supports governments and civil society to design and implement policies that encourage the creation, production, distribution of and access to diverse cultural goods and services. To achieve this goal, UNESCO has run a capacity-building programme on participatory policy monitoring since 2014 with the support of the Government of Sweden.
For the first time ever, UNESCO brings together cultural policy makers and UNESCO representatives across Asia for a 3-day training on cultural policy monitoring on 30 July – 1 August 2019 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The training of trainers explores how partner countries from Asia could engage in transparent and participatory policy monitoring processes through support mechanisms provided by the 2005 Convention.
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"Branding Bahagia": a Collaborative Branding Exercise
Yogyakarta, 1 July 2019 - UNESCO and Citi Indonesia spearheaded a collaboration exercise between students and young entrepreneurs in brand development exercise named “Branding Bahagia” (Happy Branding), as part of the project “Creative Youth at Indonesian Heritage Sites.” This activity was supported by Srengenge Advertising Agency and six universities in Yogyakarta providing opportunities and experiences for the students to develop new branding schemes for the 114 youth-led products/enterprises in Yogyakarta and Central Java.
This activity is contributing to the SDG 1 (No Poverty), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) by supporting youth entrepreneurs living around the Indonesian heritage sites in promoting the site and eventually having a better livelihood.
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Six Heritage Cities from Asia, Pacific and Africa Gather in Penang to Exchange Knowledge about Strengthening Resilience against Disaster Risk
Penang, 20 JUNE 2019 Heritage authorities from six heritage cities in Asia, Pacific and Africa gathered in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, from 20 to 21 June 2019 to attend a workshop entitled “Experience Sharing Workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Strategy among Heritage Cities in Southeast Asia, Pacific and Africa“ held by UNESCO Office Jakarta in collaboration with George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI).
The workshop is part of a project funded by the Malaysian Funds-in-Trust (MFIT) aimed at building disaster resilience of heritage cities in Asia-Pacific through capacity-building of local authorities and heritage managers. The first phase of the project between 2017 and 2018 supported the development of city-specific DRR strategy for George Town, Semarang and Levuka. In the second phase which began since December 2018, Apia Historic Waterfront and Island of Mozambique joined the beneficiary countries to encourage South-South cooperation.
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The Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia Initiates Another Partnership with UNESCO to hold the 3rd World Culture Forum 2019
Jakarta, 21 May 2019 | On Tuesday, 21 May 2019, UNESCO Office Jakarta received a visit from the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic Indonesia, led by Professor Ananta Kusuma Seta, the Senior Advisor to the Minister on Innovation and Competitiveness, to discuss about another partnership between the Government of Indonesia and UNESCO Office Jakarta to organize the 3rd World Culture Forum (WCF) in Indonesia.
The third World Culture Forum will be centered around the theme of "Culture to Realize the Future We Want" and is scheduled to take place by the end of this year. To continue the previous key outcomes, the third WCF will focus on developing an Action Plan at the grassroots level, containing targeted outputs. Therefore, unlike the previous WCF events which focused on upstream level issues (notably targeting policy-makers), the 2019 version plans to focus more on finding practical solutions and sharing best practices from other countries. Thus, the approach of the 2019 event will be more on people-to-people, particularly for the cultural practitioners and youth at the grass-root level.
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Celebrating World Heritage Day 2019 in Borobudur
For 2019 edition of the World Heritage Day, Borobudur Conservation Office and UNESCO in collaboration with a local NGO, Yayasan LKIS, held a photo exhibition by Pak Suparno, a former staff member of Borobudur Conservation Office to commemorate his 40 years of dedicated work on the famous world heritage site.
For the World Heritage Day 2019, local communities from the neighbouring village of Karanganyar were also invited as special guests. Karanganyar village has historical connection with the temple as shown in the stone reliefs of the temple dating from the 8th century, depicting the scenes of rural lifestyles, such as farming, house and pottery making.
UNESCO Jakarta thanks the Oriental Cultural Heritage Protection Alliance whose grant has supported a series of UNESCO community outreach programmes around Borobudur and the organization of the 2019 World Heritage Day.
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COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION
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Indonesian Civil Servants Fight Disinformation in the Digital Age
Knowing to fight disinformation is a skill everyone should have in the digital age including civil servants. In line with SDG 16, UNESCO Jakarta in collaboration with Directorate General Human Rights, Ministry of Law and Human Rights organized a training workshop on Freedom of Expression and Countering Disinformation held in Jakarta on 14 August 2019.
The one-day training aimed to increase the knowledge of participants – the civil servants from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights - on the importance of freedom of expression and its relevance to the work of Directorate General of Human Rights. Mrs. RR. Risma Indriyani, the Secretary of Directorate General Human Rights who opened the workshop hoped that the training improves the awareness and knowledge of civil servants in countering fake news and disinformation.
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Make the World Inclusive Because the World is for Everyone
Educational resources should be made available to all learners regardless of whether a person is living with or without disabilities. This is the goal of the UNESCO Open Educational Resources (OER) initiative and the guiding principle behind the Workshop on National Policy on Inclusive OER which took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 13 and 14 July 2019.
After two days of intensive deliberations, the experts from various institutions produced a draft National Policy on Inclusive Open Education Resources for Malaysia.
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Timorese Journalists Discuss Challenges to Journalism in the Social Media Age at Dili Dialogue Forum
 Distinguished Portuguese journalist, Mr. Adelino Gomes who reported from Timor-Leste during the resistance period in 1975, asked the 200-plus participants at the Dili Dialogue Forum, the hard question of whether journalism is still worth defending in an age when “big tech” has eclipsed news outlets, when traditional journalism toils without much monetary gain, and when journalists are sometimes accused of “reckless” use of social media.
The questions from Mr. Gomes during his keynote address as well as from other speakers and experts at the forum are meant to provoke and challenge deeper reflection of the role of journalism and of journalists at a time when information can easily be accessed with a few taps on a personal smartphone.
The two-day forum which took place in Dili from 9 to 10 May was also attended by representatives from regional press councils and journalists associations who shared their experiences in dealing with social media in their respective countries.
The Dili Dialogue Forum is an annual forum that takes place on the anniversary of the formal establishment of the Timor-Leste Press Council on 10 May 2016. Coincidentally, it comes days after the World Press Freedom Day (3 May) and thus has had a strong link with the global celebration led by UNESCO.
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UNESCO Launches Indonesian Edition of the Handbook to Counter Disinformation
The spread of disinformation and misinformation, especially on the social media platform, has affected journalism and journalists. News media are under increasing pressure to produce news at a faster rate yet face the challenge of decreasing revenue and higher competition from different social media platforms and internet giants.
In conjunction with the commemoration of the World Press Freedom Day 2019 with the theme “Media for Democracy: Journalism and Election in Times of Disinformation” on 3 May in Jakarta, UNESCO Jakarta officially launched the Indonesian version of the handbook “Journalism, ‘ Fake News’, and Disinformation” for journalists and journalism educators.
This edition was translated and edited from the English version by a team of journalism and communication researchers from the Department of Communication Science of the Gadjah Mada University, comprises Dr Kuskridho Ambardi, Dr Novi Kurnia, Ms Rahayu, Mr Zainuddin Muda Z. Monggilo, and Mr Engelbertus Wendratama. To further localize the content, a booklet with “Indonesian Context” was also created as a complementary resource to the handbook.
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If It's News, It Cannot be Fake: Vibrant Discussion on World Press Freedom Day Indonesia
One of the more memorable quotes during the discussion at this year’s World Press Freedom Day must surely be the one from Mr Imam Wahyudi, member of Indonesia Press Council, when he urged everyone to help “increase the number of ants rather than feeding a few elephants.”
It was a euphemism meant to highlight the need to improve the diversity and plurality of media sources including smaller media outlets rather than depending on a few large ones. It was one of the many suggestions put forward by various expert speakers in the morning forum held in Jakarta on 3 May 2019 in conjunction with the 26th edition of the World Press Freedom Day’s theme “Media for Democracy: Journalism and Election in Times of Disinformation.”
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Opportunities and Challenges: The First Malaysia-UNESCO Cooperation Programme (MUCP) Expert Synthesis Meeting
The First Malaysia-UNESCO Cooperation Programme (MUCP) Expert Synthesis Meeting was held recently on 14-16 May 2019 in Langkawi, Malaysia. The meeting gathered experts affiliated with the implementation of the Malaysia Funds-In-Trust (MFIT) projects from the region of Asia Pacific and Africa. This is the first MUCP platform initiated to gather expertise from multi-disciplines to cover all the spectrum of UNESCO’s thematic competencies.
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Upcoming Events/Trainings
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