Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) was chosen as one of the co-conveners of the Commission on Financing of Global Education Opportunities, which was inaugurated during the Oslo Summit on Education for Development in Oslo, Norway, on Tuesday.

President Widodo will work with other co-conveners, including Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Malawis President Peter Mutharika, Chiles President Michelle Bachelet Jeria, and UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova.

Third Secretary of the Indonesian Embassy in Oslo Dilla Trianti informed ANTARA News on Wednesday that Minister of Education and Culture Anies Baswedan and Ambassador to Norway Yuwono A. Putranto represented President Jokowi at the summit.

As the co-conveners, the four leaders representing four continents have urged UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown, also the former prime minister of the United Kingdom, to chair the commission.

The commission, which was fully supported by UN Secretary General Bank Ki-moon, will have eight to ten prominent members from various fields, including finance, economy, and education.

President Widodo was selected as the representative of Asia since Indonesia was considered as a nation committed to providing equal education for its people.

As a convener, Indonesia will work towards encouraging global awareness for raising education funds, especially for non-binding assistance, as well as sharing the experiences on regulating the 12 years compulsory education program, particularly related to the financial budget for education.

Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arrmanatha Nasir noted that the selection of Indonesia as one of the co-conveners on the commission also indicated the global recognition given to the country for its role to contributing in political, economic, social, and education fields at the regional and international level.

The commission was created to encourage and increase investment in the field of global education, which is still underfunded, through identifying problems and challenges, composing a road map on increasing global education investment, and giving recommendations to the stakeholders of global education.

The first meeting of the co-convener of Commission on Financing of Global Education Opportunities will be held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2015 and their report and recommendations will be presented in mid-2016.
(T.A060/INE/KR-BSR/O001)

Reporter: Azi Fitriyanti
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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