Jakarta – International Committee of the Red Cross president Peter Maurer met with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in Jakarta on Wednesday (22/03) to strengthen humanitarian action and countermeasures against violent extremism within the Asia-Pacific region.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the ICRC sees Indonesia as an important partner and that it hopes the Muslim-majority country will increase its role to become more active in assisting in humanitarian issues around the world, considering that about two thirds of the Red Cross's operations are in predominantly Muslim nations.
According to a study by Washington-based Pew Research Center, about 62 percent of the world's estimated 1,5 billion Muslims live in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Foreign Ministry cited Maurer as saying that the Geneva-based institution is upbeat that Indonesia's capacity, expertise and moderate form of Islam are strong points that will enable the archipelago nation to play a more active role in humanitarian crises, both in the Asia-Pacific region and globally.
Minister Retno said Indonesia is ready to strengthen partnership with the ICRC and play a bigger role in humanitarian actions on a regional and global stage.
"Cooperation between Indonesia and the ICRC needs to promote a correlation between global humanitarian principles and the true value and teachings of Islam," Retno said in the statement.
Maurer arrived in Indonesia on Monday to meet with various officials, including Vice President Jusuf Kalla, National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian and Le Luong Minh, secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
The Geneva-based ICRC is a independent humanitarian organization, established in 1863.
Its mission is to support and protect victims of violent conflict across the globe. It established a humanitarian mission in Indonesia in 1942, and beside various humanitarian actions, it also undertakes various social missions, including the provision of health-care services, such as cataract surgery in rural areas.