UNESCO Jakarta in collaboration with Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) held an online discussion titled “Monitoring Transparency and Accountability of the Management and Response of the COVID-19” on Sunday, 17 May 2020.
The current pandemic highlights the importance of journalists bringing critical and vital information to the public. As we learn that the COVID-19 will likely to be a long-term and complex challenge for most countries including Indonesia, we must be able to ensure public resource that is being channeled to the people are done so in a manner that is transparent and accountable which is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals including its Goal 16.
Advisor for Communication and Information for UNESCO Jakarta, Dr Ming-Kuok Lim said UNESCO is the United Nations agency with the specialized mandate to promote freedom of expression, press freedom, and safety of journalists. This pandemic has highlighted the pivotal role of journalists who continue to carry out their responsibilities to bring information to the public and to be an effective fourth estate despite the challenges brought on by COVID-19.
Mr Yuna Farhan, one of the speakers of the webinar from the International Budget Partnership, said that while the government has already allocated the budget to help mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, it must still implement transparency and accountability measures in the management of these funds. Therefore, community groups such as journalists should play a more active role in encouraging the government to apply the principles of transparency and accountability in managing the country’s finances.
Meanwhile, Ms Mike Verawati from the Indonesian Women's Coalition for Justice and Democracy said although the government has distributed pandemic relief assistance; the types of assistance should be adjusted to age groups and genders. Hence, all community groups could benefit from it in the most effective use. This is another facet of the pandemic that journalists could focus on in their reporting.
The online discussion, moderated by Mr Bayu Wardhana from AJI Indonesia, was the first in a series of events in the project “Journalism during Pandemic: Monitoring Transparency and Accountability of the Management and Response of the COVID-19 in Indonesia” that is supported by UNESCO Jakarta and implemented by AJI. Up to twenty journalists could apply for a journalism grant through this project to produce in-depth reporting from various angles related to COVID-19 in Indonesia.
UNESCO has been actively engaged with journalists, media practitioners and communicators in response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. These included the “Don’t Go Viral” campaign and the online course “Journalism in a Pandemic: Covering COVID-19 now and in the future”. Additionally, UNESCO has produced many useful and practical materials to counter the “infodemic” or spread of disinformation during this period. They can be accessed through the website https://en.unesco.org/covid19/communicationinformationresponse
