Indonesia, ICRC Promote Islamic Values Through Humanitarian Mission

JAKARTA, Mar 24 (Antara) - Indonesia's cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) should promote global humanitarian values and true teachings of Islam, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi stated during a meeting with ICRC President Peter Maurer. The meeting between the Indonesian foreign affairs minister and the ICRC president was held in Jakarta, Tuesday . According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received by Antara here, Thursday, the ICRC believes Indonesia's humanitarian profile has raised hopes among the international community that the country will play a more active role in handling the current humanitarian situation. The ICRC president said Indonesia's capacity, expertise, experience, and moderate approach are its capital to play an active role in the dynamics of humanity at the regional and global levels. Indonesia is also viewed as an important partner of the ICRC since two-thirds of ICRC's operations are based in Muslim-majority countries, Maurer added. Minister Marsudi expressed Indonesia's readiness to continue to improve its partnership with the ICRC to highlight humanitarian issues in the national, regional, and global arenas. To this end, the ICRC president emphasized the need for Indonesia and the ICRC to redefine and reposition the partnership in the face of the evolving global humanitarian architecture. He added that Indonesia has immense potential to become a pivot for capacity building for handling humanitarian issues in the Asia-Pacific region, especially related to humanitarian action and the prevention of violent extremism. During his official visit to Indonesia on Mar 19-22, 2017, Maurer also held a meeting with Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla; Coordinating Minister for Human Resource Development and Culture Puan Maharani; Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Wiranto; Police Chief General Tito Karnavian; and Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Le Luong Minh. The ICRC's humanitarian mission in Indonesia was started in 1942 and later had been confirmed through a memorandum of understanding in 1977. Based on the humanitarian mandate, the ICRC missions in Indonesia are implemented through activities, such as capacity building of humanitarian actors and providing healthcare services, including cataract surgeries in some rural areas in the country.