Pontianak, Thekabarnews.com—West Kalimantan Governor Ria Norsan received a courtesy visit from Laurel Miller, president and CEO of The Asia Foundation (TAF). Senior representatives of TAF Indonesia joined her at the Governor’s Office on Wednesday, April 8.

The main topic of the discussion was how to work together better on vital topics, including women’s empowerment, environmental governance, and sustainable development. In addition, they focused on how to improve the Human Development Index (HDI) in West Kalimantan.

Governor Norsan commended the Asia Foundation for its long-term work to help the area flourish. He noted that West Kalimantan is enormous—about 1.5 times the size of Java Island. There are a lot of difficult-to-reach places throughout more than 2,000 villages. Such a situation means that they need to engage closely with international organizations.

“West Kalimantan has many challenges with its geography and not much money. Our main goal is to raise the Human Development Index (HDI), which is a measure of a country’s average achievements in health, education, and income. Notably, we aim to raise the average number of years of schooling. This average is still at the junior high school level in many areas,” Norsan remarked.

Norsan also talked about how vital it is to support students who drop out of school in a certain way with their education. He mentioned providing mentorship programs and financial assistance to encourage their return to school.

The provincial government wants The Asia Foundation to help by implementing literacy programs and other projects that make it easier for people to study. In particular, they want to target those who have dropped out of school. These people need additional support to continue their education.

Several people talked about education and protecting the environment. Norsan reiterated the provincial government’s commitment to improving policies that safeguard the environment. This implies that mining and planting permits will face stricter requirements, and land rehabilitation will receive encouragement.

“We remain committed to safeguarding the environment, particularly in terms of land management and licensing for resource-extracting enterprises. We need everyone who is trying to repair the environment to show a strong commitment to conserving West Kalimantan’s natural resources,” Norsan stated.

On the other side, Laurel Miller said she was there to improve collaborations. She wants to make sure that the Asia Foundation’s activities align with the development goals of the West Kalimantan provincial government.

She said TAF has been working in the area, teaching people to use technology. Additionally, they are giving women greater authority and managing trees for social good.

“We see a lot of overlap between our goals and those of the provincial government. We are dedicated to working together to make sure that our programs genuinely serve local communities,” Miller added.

TAF reps said that making environmental governance a priority is essential. They said they wanted to work more with district and city administrations to get the most out of programs that protect the environment and empower people. In particular, they focused on collaborating on initiatives that promote sustainable practices and community involvement.

At the end of the meeting, everyone gave each other gifts to show they were friends. Then they all took a picture together. A number of local politicians and development partners also attended the occasion. This indicates that everyone wants to help West Kalimantan thrive in a way that is beneficial for the environment.

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