Yogyakarta, January 10th 2024─The Papua Task Force of Universitas Gadjah Mada (GTP UGM) and the Foreign Policy Strategy Agency (BSKLN) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia organized a limited discussion with the theme “Strengthening Indonesian Diplomacy to Support the Development of Papua to Welcome the Golden Indonesia 2045”. The event was held offline in the Dean’s Meeting Room of BB Building 2nd floor of Faculty of Social and Political Sciences of UGM. This limited discussion activity was attended by various elements both from BSKLN Ministry of Foreign Affairs, GTP UGM, and the academic community in the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences UGM.
This limited discussion activity was carried out with the aim of gathering input and obtaining views and enrichment from academics in the context of preparing comprehensive policy recommendations for strengthening diplomacy driven by data/data-driven foreign policy related to Strengthening Indonesian Diplomacy in Supporting Papua’s Development Towards 2045 Golden Indonesia.
Dr. Yayan G. H. Mulyana as Head of the Foreign Policy Strategy Agency of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in his remarks conveyed the condition of development in Papua which so far has not been optimal if you look at the achievements of macro development indicators such as the Human Development Index (HDI) which is still below average when compared to other regions and the poverty rate which is still quite high when compared to other regions in Indonesia.
In the context of diplomacy, Indonesia’s role at the international level is currently strengthened by Indonesia’s position as a member of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations. This position requires an appropriate diplomacy strategy, especially in managing the Papua issue at the international level. Dr. Yayan also emphasized the importance of BSKLN as a policy recommendation formulation institution to be able to collaborate with stakeholders such as academics in formulating policy recommendations for Indonesian diplomacy. This activity is one form of such collaboration and it is hoped that this limited discussion can become the basis for future partnership studies.
This limited discussion event was hosted by the Chairperson of GTP UGM, Dr. Gabriel Lele, who is a lecturer at the Department of Management and Public Policy, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences UGM. Several academicians in the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences UGM participated in this activity as participants in the limited discussion, including Dr. Rochdi Mohan Nazala (Department of International Relations), Nurhadi, S.Sos., M.Si., Ph.D. (Department of Social Development and Welfare), Desintha Dwi Asriani, S.Sos., M.A., Ph.D. (Department of Sociology), Alfath Bagus Panuntun El Nur Indonesia, S.I.P., M.A. (Department of Politics and Government), Dr. Mufti Nurlatifah, S.I.P., M.A. (Department of Communication), Bagus Sulistiono, S.IP., M.P.A. (Department of Public Policy and Management), Christina Vania Winona, S.I.P. (Department of International Relations), and Anisya Ratna Komalasari, S.S. (Department of Sociology).
The participants of this discussion expressed their views on several current issues regarding Papua and diplomacy in general. Some of the issues discussed included problems of governance and collaboration between elements of government both at the central and regional levels in managing issues in Papua, issues of livelihoods of the Papuan people, issues of public communication and policy in Papua, issues of gender development in Papua, to the management of the Papua issue at the international level through international groups both regional and interest groups.