The ASEAN-Australia Ministerial Meeting was held in Bangkok, Thailand, on August 1, 2019. Before the meeting, the ASEAN-Australia Counter-trafficking Initiative was launched in an attempt to strengthen the capacity-building cooperation in response to human trafficking issues for the 2018-2028 period.
At the meeting, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi praised the Australian government for its support for the ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific.
Minister Marsudi echoed Indonesia’s aspirations to enhance cooperation in four sectors -- maritime, connectivity, sustainable development goals (SDGs), and economy -- as specified in the Outlook.
Moreover, she highlighted the importance of cooperation in the context of women, peace, and security. The ASEAN and Australia have established a dialog platform to work on the issues of women, peace, and security. In future, Indonesia expects this cooperation to be intensified in a bid to strengthen women's roles in peace and tolerance.
On the occasion, Minister Marsudi stated that Indonesia had organized trainings in April 2019 for female diplomats of regional countries concerning women, peace, and security issues. The training was aimed at enforcing their capacity in peace negotiations and concurrently encouraging them to become the agents of peace and tolerance.
The cooperation on women's issues can be implemented through the existing ASEAN mechanism, specifically the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR).
Furthermore, Marsudi spoke of the "peace village" initiative developed by the Indonesian NGO. The initiative is aimed at strengthening women's economic capacity at the village level and improve their capacity as the agents of peace.
Related news: ASEAN leaders agree to adopt ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific
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Reporter: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
Editor: Suharto
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