By : Alfred Jigibalom )*
The Indonesian government continues to strive to improve the quality of human resources (HR), especially for the younger generation as a very strategic asset to further support the acceleration of progress and development on the Earth of Cenderawasih.
Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK) Muhadjir Effendy said that efforts to develop and increase progress in the Papuan people must start with developing the younger generation first.
The reason is, with the optimal development of the young generation in Bumi Cenderawasih, it will also be a form of driving force and also a strategic asset for development in a region in the future, including the acceleration of progress and prosperity in the easternmost province of the country.
Therefore, the local Regional Government (Pemda) must also be able to further empower the young generation in Papua. Considering that there are actually a lot of Papuan graduate students who are able to compete and their quality cannot be underestimated.
They are all able to compete with all students in various other regions in Indonesia, including those from well-known campuses in the archipelago. For this reason, the existence of abundant human resources (HR) with all their potential clearly must be able to be utilized very well to be part of Papua’s development in the future.
It cannot be denied that Bumi Cenderawasih will only be able to be developed very well by the contribution and active role of the sons and daughters of Papua themselves. It is impossible for development to occur optimally if we continue to use assistance from outside parties or people.
The abundance of facilities, including the human resources they actually have, including the various kinds of support that have been continuously provided by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia (RI), must be utilized optimally as an effort to continue to build creativity and also increase collaboration between youth in Papua. .
One of the facilities that has been provided by the Indonesian Government in Tanah Papua to further support its active role in improving the quality of the young generation of Bumi Cenderawasih is the construction of the Papua Youth Creative Hub (PYCH) building which is a concrete form of the great attention given by the government to there is empowerment and improvement in the welfare of the young generation there.
The construction of PYCH itself is a follow-up to the meeting of Papuan youth which was previously held with the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo (Jokowi) at the State Palace in September 2019. After the meeting, the government really showed how caring it was and was able to listen to all the aspirations of its people.
It is clear that the establishment of the PYCH Building should be used as well as possible to further develop oneself and also become an opportunity to galvanize young men and women in Papua so that they can stand equally and on par with the younger generation from various other regions in Indonesia.
No half-hearted, in fact, many kinds of very modern facilities have been provided by the government in the PYCH building, which are not necessarily available in various cities on the island of Java. With the kind of support that has been provided by the Indonesian Government, it should be possible to make the best use of it.
As is known, the current young generation has very strategic value for development and progress in Indonesia, especially to be able to face the demographic bonus period that is waiting in front of our eyes. In fact, the largest percentage of the population in the youth category is known to be in the Eastern part of Indonesia.
It should be noted that Papua Province itself has a youth population of up to 26.83 percent or 931,602 people. Apart from that, the Youth Development Index (IPP) in Papua Province itself is also increasingly experiencing a very positive growth trend, which is capable of improving from the previous figure of 52.00 to 57.20 in 2022.
The increase in the IPP figure was even able to be above the National IPP with a growth value of only 55.33. Therefore, Deputy for Coordination of Quality Improvement for Children, Women and Youth of the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture, Woro said that this positive trend must continue to be improved through massive empowerment of young people so that they can be encouraged to become the driving force for the progress and prosperity of the region.
In order to achieve optimal and maximum progress and development in the Papua region, it cannot be denied that it must be accompanied by the use of strategic assets. In this case, it means that improvements in the quality of Human Resources (HR) of the youth generation in Bumi Cenderawasih must continue to be encouraged.
)* The author is a Papuan student living in Bali