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Indonesia wins UN Population Award
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I
ndonesia earned the 2022 United Nations Population Award (UNPA) for its incredible contribution to raising people’s awareness about population issues and solutions to the related concerns.
This is the second time Indonesia has won the 2022 UN Population Award, the first having been received 33 years ago. Indonesia’s then-president Soeharto received the award in December 1989, National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) said in a statement on Monday.
The UN Population Award is awarded annually to an individual or several individuals, to an institution or several institutions or to combinations of the two.
The UN Population Award was established by the General Assembly in 1981, in resolution 36/201, dated Dec. 17, and was first presented in 1983.
In the institution category, 2022 UN Population Award went to BKKBN.
BKKBN’s success in receiving the 2022 UN Population Award has provided concrete evidence that the development and implementation of the Family Planning and Population program in Indonesia, carried out by the BKKBN and all involved partners, received international support.
The award is also an international recognition for the incredible contribution that BKKBNN has made in raising people’s awareness about population issues and designing solutions.
BKKBN’s head doctor, Dr. Hasto Wardoyo, said in a statement that the UNP Award was the fruit of strenuous effort and collaborative support from different governmental agencies.
According to Hasto, BKKBN has successfully implemented its family planning program. It lowered the birth rate from 5.6 to 2.2 births per woman from 1970 to 2000.
“The decline in the birth rate has curbed the population growth and had an impact on the quality of public services, such as education, health and infrastructure, which increase the people’s living standard,” Hasto explained.
According to Hasto, the demography bonus that Indonesia has achieved is the real reward of the program.
Demography bonus describes a situation in which the number of productive people is greater than those unproductive, and has an impact on the increase in the people’s prosperity.
Meanwhile, BKKBN’s Training, Research and Development Deputy Head Prof. M. Rizal Damanik led the Indonesian delegation that received the UNP Award.
He was accompanied by BKKBN’s International Cooperation Agency Head Ukik Kusuma Kurniawan.
Representing BKKBN, Prof. Rizal Damanik received 2022 UNP Award in UN Headquarters, New York, the United States, on June 13.
According to UNFPA, in the category of institutions, BKKBN has been recognized as a shining example of successful, innovative and rights-based family planning initiatives in the Republic of Indonesia, which continued even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among its many achievements, it has trained population experts, engaged with non-governmental and faith-based organizations on population issues and developed programs to assist families caring for older persons.
“It has played a leading role in advocating against harmful practices, helping to raise the minimum age for marriage for girls from 16 to 19 in 2019,” UNFPA said on its website, un.org.
Damanik said that BKKBN won the 2022 UNP Award thanks to the hard work of the entire team at BKKBN.
“I would like to express my gratitude to Indonesia’s population activists spread across Indonesia,” he said.
He expressed the hope that the 2022 UN Population Award will add value for Indonesia on the world scene. Furthermore, Indonesia will host the upcoming G20 in Bali on Oct. 23-24.
