Hello, Salam, Over the past several weeks, and especially in recent days, we have seen a sharp rise in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Indonesia. The highly transmissible Delta variant poses a threat to hospitals, to health workers, and to some of society’s most vulnerable people. It’s a threat all of us must take seriously and guard against. Over the coming days and weeks, you will see lots of messaging from my colleagues at the World Health Organization and other UN agencies updating you on the crisis. I urge you to heed their advice. Simple measures like physical distancing and wearing a mask can and do save lives. And saving lives is something we should never be complacent about. The UN is in full support of the new curbs the Indonesian Government has introduced to slow the spread of the virus. Today, though, I want to talk about the way the pandemic has cut so many of us off from many of the support networks that we usually rely on. How do we confront this issue? When we face uncertainty, our natural inclination is to seek comfort in our families, our friends, and communities. But this is the very thing that COVID-19 makes difficult. The UN is working to support every aspect of Indonesia’s COVID-19 response, from providing timely public health messaging, to combatting misinformation, to helping the government with the complex logistics of vaccine distribution, to protecting some of society’s most vulnerable people from COVID-19’s economic fallout. But the loneliness of the pandemic is an altogether different problem. Across Indonesia, millions of children are distant from their classmates, millions of workers are separated from their colleagues, millions of religious people are cut off from their fellow worshipers, and millions of people living in cities are remote from relatives in the provinces. One thing that can help, when we feel alone, is to remember that all of us are in fact struggling together. And it is through this collective struggle that we will overcome the virus. So, even as we practice physical distancing, we are not alone. Your neighbor is wearing her mask to protect your kids. You are staying home to protect the nurses at your local hospital. Your kids are learning remotely to protect your neighbors’ parents. Through these small acts of daily heroism, we care for one another. And care is such a powerful force. Today, I want to express my solidarity with every one of you who is struggling, whether it’s with the loss of a loved one, with economic difficulty, or with the loneliness of physical distancing. And my deep appreciation to the frontline health workers who are working around the clock to keep us safe. Badai pasti berlalu, as the Indonesian saying goes. Remember: this storm will pass. But our care for each other is what enables us to weather it. On behalf of the whole of the UN, Indonesia, we are with you.

Hallo, Salam untuk semua Selama beberapa minggu terakhir, dan terutama dalam beberapa hari ini, kita telah melihat peningkatan tajam dalam jumlah kasus dan kematian COVID-19 di Indonesia. Varian Delta yang sangat menular menimbulkan ancaman bagi rumah sakit, petugas kesehatan, dan beberapa orang yang paling rentan di masyarakat. Ini adalah ancaman yang harus kita semua hadapi dengan serius dan waspada. Selama beberapa hari dan minggu mendatang, Anda akan melihat banyak pesan dari rekan-rekan saya di Organisasi Kesehatan Dunia dan badan-badan PBB lainnya yang memberi tahu Anda tentang krisis tersebut. Saya mendorong Anda untuk perhatikan dengan baik nasihat mereka. Langkah-langkah sederhana seperti menjaga jarak fisik dan memakai masker dapat dan memang menyelamatkan nyawa. Dan menyelamatkan nyawa bukan hanya sesuatu kepuasan untuk kita. PBB mendukung penuh pembatasan baru yang diterapkan Pemerintah Indonesia untuk memperlambat penyebaran virus. Namun, hari ini, saya ingin berbicara tentang bagaimana pandemi telah memutus begitu banyak jaringan pendukung diri kita yang biasanya kita andalkan. Bagaimana kita menghadapi masalah ini? Ketika kita menghadapi ketidakpastian, naluri manusia kita adalah mencari kenyamanan dalam keluarga, teman, dan komunitas kita. Tetapi inilah yang menjadi sulit dilakukan karena COVID-19. PBB bekerja untuk mendukung setiap aspek respons COVID-19 di Indonesia, mulai dari memberikan pesan kesehatan masyarakat yang tepat waktu, memerangi informasi yang salah, serta membantu pemerintah dengan logistik distribusi vaksin yang rumit, hingga melindungi sebagian masyarakat yang paling rentan dari penyebaran COVID-19 dalam ketidakstabilan ekonomi. Tetapi aspek isolasi atau rasa sepi yg ditimbulkan COVID-19 adalah masalah yang sama sekali berbeda. Di seluruh Indonesia, jutaan anak jauh dari teman sekelasnya, jutaan pekerja terpisah dari rekan-rekannya, jutaan umat beragama terputus dari sesama jamaah, dan jutaan orang yang tinggal di kota jauh dari kerabat yang tinggal di daerah. Satu hal yang dapat membantu, ketika kita merasa sendirian, adalah mengingat bahwa kita semua sebenarnya sedang berjuang bersama. Dan melalui perjuangan bersama inilah kita akan mengatasi virus. Maka dari itu, meski kita melakukan pembatasan jarak fisik, kita tidak sendirian. Tetangga Anda memakai maskernya untuk melindungi anak-anak Anda. Anda tetap berada di rumah untuk melindungi perawat di rumah sakit setempat. Anak-anak Anda belajar dari jarak jauh untuk melindungi orang tua tetangga Anda. Melalui tindakan kecil kepahlawanan sehari-hari ini, kami saling peduli. Dan kepedulian adalah kekuatan yang begitu kokoh. Hari ini, saya ingin mengungkapkan solidaritas saya dengan Anda semua yang tengah berjuang, baik yang berjuang dengan rasa duka cita karena telah ditinggalkan keluarga tercinta, yang tengah mengalami kesulitan ekonomi, atau yang berjuang melawan rasa kesendirian sebagai imbas dari penjagaan jarak fisik. Dan saya ingin mengungkapkan kembali rasa terima kasih yang mendalam kepada para petugas kesehatan garis depan yang bekerja sepanjang waktu untuk menjaga kita semua tetap aman. Badai pasti berlalu, begitu kata pepatah Indonesia. Ingat: badai ini akan berlalu. Dan kepedulian kita terhadap satu sama lain adalah apa yang memungkinkan kita untuk melewatinya. Dan kepedulian adalah kekuatan yang begitu kokoh. Atas nama seluruh badan PBB di Indonesia, kami bersama Anda.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve heard a lot about global solidarity. Unfortunately, words by themselves will not end the pandemic – or curb the impact of the climate crisis. Now is the moment to show what solidarity means in practice. As G20 Finance Ministers meet in Venice, they face three crucial solidarity tests: on vaccines, on extending an economic lifeline to the developing world, and on climate.     First, vaccines. A global vaccination gap threatens us all. While COVID-19 circulates among unvaccinated people, it continues to mutate into variants that could be more transmissible, more deadly, or both.  We are in a race between vaccines and variants; if the variants win, the pandemic could kill millions more people and delay a global recovery for years. But while 70 percent of people in some developed countries are vaccinated, that figure stands at less than 1 per cent for low-income countries. Solidarity means delivering on access to vaccines for everyone – fast. Pledges of doses and funds are welcome. But let’s get real. We need not one billion, but at least eleven billion doses to vaccinate 70 percent of the world and end this pandemic. Donations and good intentions will not get us there. This calls for the greatest global public health effort in history. The G20, backed by major producing countries and international financial institutions, must put in place a global vaccination plan to reach everybody, everywhere, sooner rather than later. The second test of solidarity is extending an economic lifeline to countries teetering on the verge of debt default. Rich countries have poured the equivalent of 28 percent of their GDP into weathering the COVID-19 crisis. In middle-income countries, this figure drops to 6.5 percent; in least developed countries, to less than 2 percent. Many developing countries now face crippling debt service costs, at a time when their domestic budgets are stretched and their ability to raise taxes is reduced. The pandemic is set to increase the number of extremely poor people by some 120 million around the world; more than three-quarters of these ‘new poor’ are in middle-income countries. These countries need a helping hand to avoid financial catastrophe, and to invest in a strong recovery. The International Monetary Fund has stepped in to allocate $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights – the best way to increase the funds available to cash-strapped economies. Richer countries should channel their unused shares of these funds to low and middle-income countries. That is a meaningful measure of solidarity. I welcome steps the G20 has already taken, including the Debt Service Suspension Initiative and Common Framework for Debt Treatment. But they are not sufficient. Debt relief must be extended to all middle-income countries that need it. And private lenders must also be brought into the equation. The third test of solidarity concerns climate change. Most major economies have pledged to cut their emissions to net zero by mid-century, in line with the 1.5 degree target of the Paris Agreement. If COP26 in Glasgow is to be a turning point, we need the same promise from all G20 countries, and from the developing world. But developing countries need reassurance that their ambition will be met with financial and technical support, including $100 billion in annual climate finance that was promised to them by developed countries over a decade ago. This is entirely reasonable. From the Caribbean to the Pacific, developing economies have been landed with enormous infrastructure bills because of a century of greenhouse gas emissions they had no part in.  Solidarity begins with delivering on the $100 billion. It should extend to allocating 50 percent of all climate finance to adaptation, including resilient housing, elevated roads and efficient early warning systems that can withstand storms, droughts and other extreme weather events. All countries have suffered during the pandemic. But nationalist approaches to global public goods like vaccines, sustainability and climate action are a road to ruin.  Instead, the G20 can set us on the road to recovery. The next six months will show whether global solidarity extends beyond words to meaningful action. By meeting these three critical tests with political will and principled leadership, G20 leaders can end the pandemic, strengthen the foundations of the global economy, and prevent climate catastrophe.   António Guterres is United Nations Secretary General. This article was originally published in thejakartapost.com.

Allam Amin is a humanitarian worker who supports the most vulnerable people during emergencies and relief projects by coordinating logistics and supply chains for essential items like medicine, shelter and dignity kits.    “I am used to disasters,” Allam says. “ I grew up in eastern part of Indonesia and there was a volcano that regularly erupted.” When he was just a boy there was a major eruption that forced his family to flee. “I remember the panic in this small town,” he says. “The whole community moved to the next island all at once.”   “I remember the panic in this small town. The whole community moved to the next island all at once.”   Allam had an uncle who had learned evacuation planning in the military. “He knew what to do,” he recalls. “We followed his orders and all of us gathered together to learn what to do in a crisis.” During one especially violent eruption, Allam recalls the dust that destroyed their food sources. “I had never seen that much dust coming from the volcano,” he says  “I still remember that because of the shortage of food.” Even with the planning of his uncle and family, food became scarce because of the disruption to normal life. “Normally everyone was eating fresh fish,” Allam says. “But during disaster time nobody is going fishing.”Allam remembers how it created extra burdens on women like his mother to provide for their families in disaster. “The women had to make sure that there was something, even noodles,” he says.   "Normally everyone was eating fresh fish. But during disaster time nobody is going fishing."   When Allam finished school he was involved in projects distributing medical equipment to the regional health networks.  “The first place for us to learn about the basics is in these remote areas,” he says.  “I needed to make sure that we were going to order enough supplies, especially with the budget coming from USAID. We really learned about planning.” When a series of disasters hit Indonesia early in his career, Allam shifted to use his logistics skills in humanitarian response with UN agencies like UNICEF and UNFPA. He says the biggest barrier in disasters is the breakdown of the transport systems. “It is the limitation of the transport system,” he says. “The airport can be broken and we can only get supplies in only from the harbor so you have to adapt.”    “It is the limitation of the transport system. The airport can be broken and we can only get supplies in only from the harbor so you have to adapt.”    He says the priority is to make sure displaced families stay healthy during the disaster or in camps for displaced people. The model of planning Allam worked on has been woven into national preparedness plans that support health districts across the country. “We need to come up with the idea of working closely with counterparts and donors to make sure that this capacity is available any time of the year,” he says. Allam says a smart logistics system will have dynamic digital inventory that manages stock and storage with life-saving efficiency.   "Dignity Kits are not easy to store. We put it in one big box, otherwise it goes everywhere."   “The first thing is often to establish a better warehouse system,” he says. “Dignity Kits are not easy to store. We put it in one big box, otherwise it goes everywhere. They will be falling apart if you do not know how to manage the warehouse.” Allam has been able to combine his years of logistics experience with the additional support of a regional prepositioning network. When the earthquake and tsunami struck Central Sulawesi in September 2018, he was able to see the benefit of rapid deployment. “Right away women and girls received thousands of kits,” he says. “I am proud of what we did because I know it saved lives.”   “Right away women and girls received thousands of kits. I am proud of what we did because I know it saved lives.”   Like everyone, Allam has been impacted by COVID-19. He is not crossing flooded rivers or knee deep in boxes at a storage depot, instead he is developing plans for how to adapt to the new reality.  “I am working on a report that includes plans for how to distribute these kits doing pandemic,” he says.  Despite the huge challenges presented by COVID-19, Allam sees real progress in the coordination of preparedness planning in Indonesia. He says the focus on women and girls comes down to planning and priorities. “Women and children come first during emergency situations,” he says. “They are considered the most vulnerable. Now it has expanded and we have plans in place to deliver supplies to support the elderly.”