"Higher education institutions are strategic partners to Bawaslu," Ronald Manoach, the agency's expert staff, remarked during the signing process of the MoUs in Jayapura, Papua, on Monday.
The MoUs were inked between Bawaslu and Fattahul State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN), Yapis University, Muhammadiyah University of Papua, Cenderawasih University, Otto Geissler University, Sepuluh Nopember University of Papua, and Izaak Samuel Kijne College of Theological Philosophy.
Manoach noted that Bawaslu invited the universities to collaborate with the agency with the aim of encouraging them to mobilize their resources to participate in preventing any violations from occurring before and during the 2024 General Elections.
"However, it should be noted that this collaboration will not merely revolve around the stages of the elections. We will sustain the collaboration because there are plenty of issues related to democracy that need to be resolved," he remarked.
He then accentuated the importance of involving academics to address various issues in Papua, including the need to strengthen violation prevention efforts.
"The collaboration between Bawaslu and universities could be implemented by conducting research," he remarked.
The expert staff noted that the collaboration between his agency and the universities will be implemented with the end goal of enhancing the people's literacy to boost their awareness of elections and other practices of democracy.
"In addition, we aim to succeed in producing a generation that possesses a high level of comprehension of democracy, laws, and regulations, thereby reflecting democratic maturity," he noted.
He also noted that Bawaslu had devised a national program called "Bawaslu Ngampus" (Bawaslu Goes to Campus). On Monday, the agency has been scheduled to visit Cenderawasih University, Jayapura.
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Translator: Ardiles L, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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