Yogyakarta, 8 November 2024–Global geopolitical tensions are characterised by several conflicts between countries, such as the genocide in Gaza, the war in Ukraine, and the South China Sea dispute. Southern developing and underdeveloped countries that are members of the Global South are forced to take sides in the midst of these geopolitical tensions. In response to this issue, the Institute of International Studies (IIS), Faculty of Social and Political Sciences UGM organised the annual GO-SOUTH 2024 convention entitled ‘Global South in Geopolitical Turbulence’ on Friday (8/11).
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Attended by more than 600 experts, government institutions, and academia, this conference titled “Towards World Class Bureaucracy” discussed the development of public administration, including the issue of bureaucracy and policies in tackling global challenges. Prof. Dr. Wening Udasmoro, S.S., M.Hum., DEA, as UGM’s Vice Rector for Education and Learning, welcomed the organization of the first joint conference at UGM.
“We feel honored to have the joint conference to be held here in UGM. We need to create resilience and bureaucracy in order to tackle global challenges,” Wening spoke. She then continued on to explain the essence of cross-sector and cross-country collaboration in discussing strategies tackling global challenges. In this case, UGM as an academic institution has an agenda that it prioritizes, that is digital transformation, public sector innovation, and creating an ecosystem for SDGs.Agus Pramusinto, as the president of AAPA and IAPA, emphasized that this conference can be expected to generate a global commitment to develop a system of bureaucracy that puts the people’s interest first in line. “We hope that this conference will solidify the discussion towards public administration and networking, improve the quality of public policy, and strengthen networks in research and studies in Asia, Africa, and Europe” Agus added in his explanation.
Correspondingly, Acting Secretary of the Ministry of Administrative Reform and Bureaucratic Reform of the Republic of Indonesia (PANRB) Erwan Agus Purwanto explained the many challenges that the new government faces. “Our president, Mr. Prabowo, specifically wanted a reformation on bureaucracy. Later, the government is expected to create a system that is responsive, effective, and is based on the public interest,” he said.
According to Erwan, the global world has entered the 5.0 Society era, which resulted in the phenomena of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA). Facing this challenge isn’t exactly simple, as the government has to keep preserving the growth of the national economy every year. Technological development isn’t just used as an information tool anymore, but it is also used to provide solutions for societal problems.
“In the year 2050, Indonesia will have many potential to become a country with the fourth biggest economy in the world, and with that the government needs to open up every opportunity,” Erwan explained. He then continued on to say that a change of strategy is needed in the government, from input-oriented to outcome-oriented. If before the government had focused on the revenues and spendings, now the government must put its focus on the impact it has on society as a whole. For example, how big of an impact it is towards the people in every national budget.
Due to that, Erwan mentioned the steps taken by the president in the early days of the new government in eradicating corruption. A system which is corrupt will not only harm the country, but also excludes the people’s access and interests on public policies. “In the cabinet meeting, our strategy is to be agents of collaboration for the private and academic sector. Change is needed in order to increase development and the welfare of the people” he added.
Yogyakarta, November 4th 2024─Energy transition has been raised as an international agenda to deal with climate change issues. Although various efforts have been made to encourage the acceleration of the national energy transition, the big concept of Green Transition itself creates a paradox. Prof. Dr. Poppy Sulistyaning Winanti, S.IP., M.PP., Lecturer of the Department of International Relations UGM with Dr. Nanang Indra Kurniawan, S.IP., MPA, Lecturer of the Department of Politics and Government of UGM reviewed the topic in a discussion on Monday (4/11).
Yogyakarta, November 1st 2024─As a result of the long dry season, a number of regions have experienced severe drought, resulting in the Special Region of Yogyakarta being put on emergency alert. This issue was discussed in a book discussion entitled “Ngelep, Ngrumat, Niteni: Political Ecology of Caring for Water and Living Space in Central Java” with several political and environmental experts on Friday (1/11) at the Department of Politics and Government, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences UGM.
Until this year, Artspiration has run 12 times. The event, held at Selasar Barat Fisipol, features a variety of performances, including music, dance, and visual art exhibitions. Each performance is carefully crafted to create a dynamic dialogue around issues of discrimination and inequality faced by people with disabilities and other marginalised communities.
Artspiration 2024 carries a theme entitled “Voice Of The People”, which means the people’s voice, especially for marginalised communities. According to Akbar Bayu Laksono, the theme aligns with the Department of Politics and Government’s goal of humanising politics.
Yogyakarta, 30th of October 2024—Regional Elections (Pilkada) around Indonesia will be held simultaneously on the 27th of November 2024. The candidates for the regional elections have been voicing their vision, mission and programs through public political campaigns in recent years. Responding to this urgency, Fisipol UGM’s Department of Politics and Government (DPP) invited all of the candidates for both regent and mayor in the Special Region of Yogyakarta on Wednesday (30/10).
On this occasion, two pairs of candidates from the Bantul Regency and one representative from the other pair joined the discussion. The Bantul Regency consists of 17 Kapanewon (districts), 75 Kalurahan (villages), and 933 Padukuhan. Data from 2022 shows that the population of the Bantul Regency reached around 1.013.170 people, and is dominated by people of the productive age (15-64), as much as 74,39%. As the southernmost region of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, the Bantul Regency has great potentials for tourism.
Yogyakarta, 30th of October 2024—Currently, the issue of handling and preventing cases of sexual violence has become a part that is inseparable in the processes of higher education. In line with these agendas, UGM’s Faculty of Social and Political Science is fully committed in creating a campus environment that is both safe and free from sexual violence. As a way of fulfilling this commitment, Fisipol UGM, through the Fisipol Crisis Center (FCC), worked together with UGM’s PPKS Task Force in organizing the event “Satgas PPKS Goes to Faculty”. Bringing up the theme of “Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence on Health Promoting University (HPU),” this event was held on Wednesday (30/10) on Fisipol East Seminar Room.
Yogyakarta, October 30th─Welcoming the 2024 Regional Head Elections (Pilkada) in Indonesia on November 27th 2024, the Bulaksumur Roundtable Forum together with the Election Corner of the Department of Politics and Government (DPP) UGM invited three pairs of mayoral candidates of Yogyakarta City. The event was held on Wednesday (30/10) at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences of UGM.
Yogyakarta City as the capital of the Province of D.I. Yogyakarta is certainly the center of government and economy. Administratively, Yogyakarta City has a small area compared to other level II regions. There are 14 sub-districts, 45 urban villages, 617 RW, and 2,531 RT, and inhabited by 375,780 people. Most of the people work in the fields of MSMEs and tourism.
Yogyakarta, 29 October 2024–Bulaksumur Roundtable Forum (BRF) was held again, this time with the theme “Sustainability Through Local Election: Vision-Mission Review of Regent/Mayor Candidates throughout Yogyakarta with Candidates, Academics, & Civil Society”. The two-day BRF The Clinics session on Tuesday (29/10) held at the Auditorium of Fisipol UGM aims to create an egalitarian interactive forum by bringing together regional head candidates in Kulon Progo, academics, and civil society to explore the thoughts of candidates as well as problems in Kulon Progo.
Yogyakarta, October 29th 2024─To dissect the visions and missions of regional head candidates throughout Yogyakarta, Bulaksumur Roundtable Forum (BRF) The Clinics opened an interactive discussion space that brought together various parties ranging from candidates, academics, and civil society. Bulaksumur Roundtable Forum (BRF) is an academic discussion event that is conducted periodically, focusing on the theme of sustainable development. In this round, BRF will conduct program review clinics on regent and deputy regent, also the mayor and deputy mayor candidates throughout the D.I. Yogyakarta.