Indonesia

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 * Background Information**: The Dutch began to colonize Indonesia in the early 17th century; Japan occupied the islands from 1942 to 1945. Indonesia declared its independence after Japan's surrender, but it required four years of intermittent negotiations, recurring hostilities, and UN mediation before the Netherlands agreed to transfer sovereignty in 1949. Indonesia's first free parliamentary election after decades of repressive rule took place in 1999. Indonesia is now the world's third-largest democracy, the world's largest archipelagic state, and home to the world's largest Muslim population. Current issues include: alleviating poverty, improving education, preventing terrorism, consolidating democracy after four decades of authoritarianism, implementing economic and financial reforms, stemming corruption, holding the military and police accountable for past human rights violations, addressing climate change, and controlling avian influenza. In 2005, Indonesia reached a historic peace agreement with armed separatists in Aceh, which led to democratic elections in Aceh in December 2006. Indonesia continues to face a low intensity separatist movement in Papua.

=Collecting Country Information | Research Overview Model UN Preparation Guide= First, you will need to learn about your country so you can address the issues raised at the conference as a real UN delegate from that country. To represent your country accurately, start by answering the following questions:
 * What sort of government does your country have?
 * What types of ideologies (political, religious or other) influence your country’s government?
 * Which domestic issues might influence your country’s foreign policy?
 * What are some major events in your country’s history? Why are they important?
 * Which ethnicities, religions and languages can be found in your country?
 * Where is your country located and how does its geography affect its political relationships?
 * Which countries share a border with your country?
 * Which countries are considered allies of your country?
 * Which countries are considered enemies of your country?
 * What are the characteristics of your country’s economy?
 * What is your country’s gross domestic product (GDP)? How does this compare to other countries in the world?
 * When did your country become a member of the UN?
 * Does your country belong to any [|intergovernmental organizations] outside the UN system such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)?
 * Does your country belong to any regional organizations such as the European Union (EU), the African Union (AU) or the Organization of American States (OAS)?

[] By Richel Dursin
 * Indonesia's working children find no rest**

TANGERANG, Indonesia - Muhammad Ajud, at 16 years old, is stunted in height and has the wrinkled face of a man beyond his age. His shabby physique was the result of years spent at a shoe factory.

For three years now, Ajud has been working at PT Widya Sarana Nusaprima, one of the big factories here in Tangerang, West Java, that manufactures Reebok shoes. The youngest among three children, Ajud was 13 when he was recruited by his elder brother, Zainal Abidin, to work at the shoe factory where he was exposed to dangerous machinery. Ajud works for eight and a half hours a day from Monday to Friday, and receives a weekly pay of 75,000 rupiah (about $9). He gives half of his take-home pay to his parents. 6.5 million children currently working in Indonesia. Over the past years, the number of child laborers has been increasing in Indonesia. Companies prefer to hire children because the labor cost is cheap and the children won't protest or stage a strike unlike the adult workers, says Dita Indah Sari, chair of the non-governmental National Front for Indonesian Labor Struggle. The more child laborers the companies hire, the cheaper they have to pay. Under regulations set by the manpower ministry, children or those who are below 18 should not work more than four hours a day, should get permission from their parents before they work, and should get paid at rates equal to that of adult workers even if they work only for four hours daily.

[]  ** Child Labor in Indonesia

Child labor in Indonesia is a problem that is continually growing. Many children work on jermals. Jermals are large fishing boats. Most of the workers on the boats are children. Few are adults. Some of the children work in the fish factories a few miles from the shore of Indonesia. The tasks involved include catching, sorting, and boiling fish. During the twelve hours a day that most of the workers work through, they haul gigantic nets onto the boat. The work is torturous.

The working conditions are terrible. Not only are their daytime hours tough, but also they sleep in rusty and dirty shacks. The workplace is filthy, dangerous, and filled with the stench of fish. Some people’s fingernails fall off. Some suffer from stings attained from jellyfish or sea snakes caught in the nets. Many workers get injured, but the only relief they get is from aspirin and bandages. Although the workers labor for twelve hours a day, in one month, they may be paid a meager nine dollars. Working on a jermals is difficult and often painful.**