Dr Iwu Utomo organised the ADSRI Indonesia population and development workshop that was held at ANU on 21 May, 2012. The purpose of the workshop was to update policy makers from West Java on issues relating to population dynamics, consequences and development. Thirty senior officials and policy makers from the National Population and Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN), West Java attended. ADSRI academic staff - Professor Peter McDonald, Professor Terry Hull, Dr Ariane Utomo, Dr Adrian Hayes - and PhD students - Suharti Sutar, Pungkas Ali, Wienta Diarsvitri, Imma Aryanti, Diahadi Setyonaluri and Henri Sitorus - presented papers in the workshop.

Topics covered in the workshop included an evaluation of the condition of world population and the consequences of high and low fertility; discussing education and health quality; problems encountered by working women and gender wage gaps; unmet needs of reproductive health education, services, family planning and abortion; the importance of population, environment and climate change. Dr Siti Fatonah, Head of the West Java BKKBN office, discussed the population situation and problems of West Java. Participants discussed and offered solutions to pressing population issues in West Java relating to the need for demographers; high migration destination pockets due to large industrial areas in several districts; reproductive health education and free family planning services for all.

Photo: Workshop participants.