Peter Lundberg, the Executive Director of RWI, recently met with Dr. Dhahana Putra, the Director General of Human Rights. This meeting underscored the importance of the long-standing partnership between the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (MoLHR) and RWI, a relationship that began in 1999 with the Directorate General of Correctional Facilities and since 2017 with the Directorate General of Human Rights (DGHR).
Dr. Putra highlighted the positive experiences and achievements from this collaboration, particularly in the areas of human rights and the environment, and business and human rights—two of RWI’s four priority themes. A significant outcome of their joint efforts is the integration of climate change issues into the upcoming National Action Plan on Human Rights, along with the development of the PRISMA, a web-based application hosted by MoLHR aimed at helping companies analyze the risk of human rights abuses from their business operations. For the first time, the human rights issue will also be integrated into the country’s Mid-term National Development Plan, under the leadership of MoLHR.
Looking ahead, MoLHR is eager to continue this fruitful partnership, especially in the spheres of human rights and the environment, as well as business and human rights. They are also considering expanding cooperation through capacity building initiatives for DGHR staff, whose current number of approximately 200 has limited their opportunities for development. These initiatives could also extend into the field of international humanitarian law.
“RWI is the first partner that introduced us to the interlinkages between human rights and climate change,” Dr. Putra remarked. “With support from RWI, we will integrate the issue of climate change into the upcoming National Action Plan on Human Rights.”
Peter Lundberg expressed similar enthusiasm for the partnership, noting, “Indonesia is very important for RWI. Indonesia is even one of our first global offices outside of Sweden. We will continue to maintain and leverage this longstanding cooperation with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, using the good practices here as an example for other RWI offices.”