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Commitment to the agents of change
âA thousand elders could only dream, a young person can change the world,â founding president Sukarno once said
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'A thousand elders could only dream, a young person can change the world,' founding president Sukarno once said. The statement shows his strong confidence in young people as agents of change.
Boedi Oetomo, the first youth movement organization, was founded in 1908 by students of STOVIA medical college. The group was among others that inspired a national awakening in the fight for independence.
In the Soeharto era, youth were often labeled as insurgents, therefore their movement was limited. In an attempt to distract them from politics, the New Order regime reduced the youth movement to scout activities.
At the community level, the official youth organizations were the Karang Taruna groups, which focused on welfare. Membership ranged from 'youth' aged 11 to 45.
The silencing of young minds was somewhat effective for about 30 years. It ended when Soeharto stepped down in 1998, but the stigma of youth as being untrustworthy, unstable and dangerous can still be seen as part of the former president's legacy.
The 2009 law on youth defines youth as people of 16 ' 30 years old. Thus youth account for 26.2 percent of our total population. The figure reflects our enormous human resources, but Indonesia still struggles to find the best way to utilize it.
To tailor better programs to youth in Indonesia, the specific body in charge is the Youth and Sports Ministry. To help make Indonesia 'an independent, progressive, just and prosperous nation' according to its vision, the ministry is officially involved in empowering youth, fostering competitiveness, popularizing sports and supporting athletes.
All of these ideas are not related to the well-being of youth in general ' for example their ability to adapt to new competitive markets.
While the ministry's budget was Rp 1.8 trillion (US$ 153.66 million) in 2012, it is not clear what happened to these funds. Unpretentious published data on activities and budget spending for the facilitation of youth and funding of sports in Indonesia is imperative.
This mechanism would allow greater participation for all youth in Indonesia, and also allow policymakers have a better picture to design policies based on current achievements.
The lack of clear policies and commitment to youth was last reflected in the case of promising 17-year-old tennis player Tami Grende, from Bali. She was a champion in the Wimbledon girls' doubles this year, but unfortunately her career is at stake because she was prohibited from joining the International Tennis Federation, owing to a conflict involving her current club. This situation could prevent her from joining international competitions including the US Open Tournament.
The ministry could be the intermediary in such cases, yet nothing has been done to defend this one young and promising athlete, though her contribution to Indonesia is crystal clear.
Managing youth development programs needs a comprehensive approach, free of entanglement from political interests.
It is now crucial to think about the architecture of the Cabinet of the new government to cater to young people, whose well-being will become a responsibility of all ministries.
There are two alternatives that could occur in the new Cabinet regarding youth. First, youth issues could remain in a specific ministry or be accommodated within the Education and Culture Ministry. Second, there could be several ministries with specific programs for youth.
With the first option, the responsible parties would be clearer, while under the second, coordination would pose a larger challenge.
Other countries show various models regarding youth ministries. For instance, Malaysia also has a Ministry of Youth and Sports, while the Philippines has a National Youth Commission. New Zealand has a Ministry of Youth Development.
Whatever mechanism is chosen, youth should be assured of access to give their input both to policy makers and those in charge of policy implementation. This would end the traditional perception that youth representation is merely rubber-stamped in government programs, together with the negative stigma against them.
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The writer works for the Partnership for Governance Reform (Kemitraan) in civil society and open governance in Jakarta.
