SURABAYA CELEBRATES EARTH DAY AND HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPACT OF

UNCLAS SURABAYA 000053 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, EAP/PD, OES/ETC, OES/STC, OES/SAT, OES/PCI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV KPAO ENRG KWMN EAID TPHY TRGY ID SUBJECT: SURABAYA CELEBRATES EARTH DAY AND HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION ON WOMEN AND CHILDREN REF: A. 07 SURABAYA 83 (SURABAYA AND EAST JAVA: ELIMINATING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN) ¶B. JAKARTA 807 (EMBASSY JAKARTA "GOES GREEN") Portions of this message are sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: ConGen Surabaya celebrated Earth Day by joining a clean-the-beach campaign organized by a local NGO and planting trees in a nearby park. Later in the week, the Principal Officer participated in a well-attended seminar organized by a group of women's issues activists to discuss the importance of environmental awareness and the role of women in local communities to protect the environment. The activists linked Earth Day celebrations with Kartini Day, which commemorates Indonesian women's emancipation, to highlight the impact of environmental degradation on women and children. The activists organized a well-publicized meeting with women displaced by the Sidoarjo mudflow to illustrate their concerns. End Summary. Clean the Beach: Plant Trees -------------- ¶2. (U) In celebration of Earth Day, members of the Consulate community joined a clean-the-beach event organized by local NGOs and sponsored by local government leaders on April 20. Members of the Consulate, local politicians, several NGOs, and school children picked up and removed trash from a beach located in North Surabaya, about 45 minutes from the city center. According to the organizers, 2,400 students from 50 schools participated in the event. Surabaya's Public Affairs Officer and the Head of Surabaya's Tourism Office gave remarks from a pier about the significance of Earth Day and environmental awareness. The group then proceeded to a local park where they planted 80 trees, 20 of which were donated by the Consul General. The event received wide-spread positive media coverage. Women and the Environment -------------- ¶3. (SBU) On April 25, the Principal Officer participated in activities organized by the Forum Perempuan Peduli (FPP -- Women Who Care),a group of women's issues activists, NGO leaders, and political leaders who coordinate their individual efforts to address common concerns. FPP, which originated at a regular lunch gathering hosted by the Consulate, first organized around the issue of domestic violence (reftel). FPP linked Earth Day celebrations with Kartini Day (April 21),which honors a nineteenth century Javanese woman who advocated women's empancipation. More than 300 women activists from Surabaya and the regency of Sidoarjo gathered together to discuss increasing environmental awareness, the impact of environmental disasters on communities, and strategies for protecting the environment. The participants also watched the movie "An Inconvenient Truth." ¶4. (SBU) As part of the day-long event, the wife of the Sidoarjo regent arranged a visit to a tent camp for families displaced by the Sidaorjo mudflow. The activists hoped extensive media coverage of the visit would highlight the impact of environmental degradation on women and children and spur the central government to action. More than 1,000 people from 272 families have been living in this camp located on the abandoned toll road since their homes were engulfed by mud almost three months ago. The central government has yet to disburse compensation funds from the national budget as promised. The visit and the seminar generated substantial positive media coverage. MCCLELLAND