JAKARTA. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon on Thursday morning during the 6th Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations in Bali.
President spokesman on international relations Teuku Faizasyah said that they discussed various global issues, including religious tolerance. Moon said that all countries should learn from Indonesia for having the national model, Bhineka Tunggal Ika (unity in diversity), which had instilled an outlook of tolerance among citizens despite all the different races and religions.
“This meeting was a unique one because they were talking about unity in diversity. That topic is related to Indonesia,” he said on Thursday as quoted by Antara news agency.
Despite receiving compliments from Moon, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that Indonesian women and religious minorities faced heightened discrimination in 2013 as a result of the Yudhoyono administration’s failure to enforce human rights protections.
Meanwhile, the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) also reported that both the country’s central and local governments had issued 60 new discriminatory regulations in 2013, which included local bylaws requiring women to wear the hijab or headscarf.
After Ban Ki-Moon, Yudhoyono is set to conduct meetings with Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) secretary-general Iyad Ameen Madani, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) director-general Irina Bokova and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop during the forum, which will end on Aug. 30, Teuku said.
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