ANU announces its delegate to CAUSINDY 2013!

The Australian National University (ANU) has selected Natalie Sambhi as its delegate to CAUSINDY 2013. Natalie will be representing the university at the conference in her capacity as an ANU alumnus.

Natalie is an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and editor of ASPI’s blog The Strategist. Her research interests include political and security affairs in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. She has previously worked at Department of Defence as an analyst.

Natalie was a Hedley Bull Scholar at ANU where she gained her MA (International Relations)/MDiplomacy. She also holds a BA (Asian Studies) (Hons) from the University of Western Australia. Natalie is currently the vice-president of the ACT branch of the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA).

In 2010, she founded Security Scholar, a blog on security and defence issues. You can follow Natalie on Twitter at @SecurityScholar. She enjoys travelling regularly to Indonesia, improving her Indonesian language skills and playing the cello.

Announcing the Australian Embassy in Jakarta’s delegate to CAUSINDY

The Australian Embassy in Jakarta is proud to support Benazir Syahril as its delegate to CAUSINDY 2013. Benazir Syahril is currently a Finance Manager at Amartha Microfinance, a social business institution in Indonesia focusing on providing affordable financial services for the low-income earners in rural areas. She previously completed a Bachelor of Accounting & Finance degree with Honours at the University of West England, Bristol. She believes in the importance of microfinance as a platform for empowering women, and believes it allows Indonesians and Australians to exchange and transfer their skills and knowledge, enabling a sustainable and people-oriented relationship for the two nations.

CAUSINDY welcomes the ACT government as a sponsor!

Canberra is Australia’s national capital city and the seat of Australia’s Federal Government. This year Canberra is host city of CAUSINDY!

Following Australian Federation in 1901, ‘Yass-Canberra’ was selected as the region to host the Australian seat of government in 1908. In 1911-12, an international competition was conducted to design Australia’s capital. It was won by the Chicago team of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin. The new city was named by Lady Denman at the Foundation Stones ceremony on Capital Hill, on 12 March 1913 – now celebrated as Canberra Day.

Today, Canberra’s population of some 340,000 enjoys an unprecedented lifestyle, living minutes away from unspoilt nature parks and the magnificent Murrumbidgee River system, as well as enjoying the benefits of a diverse and cosmopolitan city. Around 80,000 Canberra residents were born overseas, spanning 50 different countries. As the diplomatic centre of Australia, Canberra is also home to 90 diplomatic missions. The ACT region also has a vibrant business community, with many local firms trading IT, defence, management, health and educational services with Indonesia.

We welcome the ACT government as a sponsor!

A warm welcome to our new supporter — the Australian Embassy in Jakarta!

The Australian Embassy in Jakarta is proud to support the inaugural Conference of Australian and Indonesian Youth (CAUSINDY).

The Embassy provides consular services to Australians and is the focal point for advancing the wide spectrum of shared interests between Indonesia and Australia.

We look forward to working with the Australian Embassy to make a CAUSINDY a great success.

CAUSINDY announces ABC International as a Supporter

ABC International is a division of Australia’s most trusted media organisation – the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Its role is to showcase the best of Australian content online, on mobile and on-air to audiences in 45 countries across the Asia and Pacific region.

More than 100 million people from the Indian subcontinent to the Cook Islands in the Pacific can access programs through the Australia Network television service, ABC Radio Australia and the digital and online service Australia Plus.

The division’s International Development team works with media partners across the region to help strengthen their media services.

Some of the ABC International’s objectives are to promote regional dialogues and understanding of Australia’s multicultural society and Australia’s role in the region, and to foster partnerships that promote the exchange of ideas.

CAUSINDY welcomes Australia Awards as a sponsor!

The Australia Awards are prestigious international scholarships and fellowships that are funded by the Australian government and offer the next generation of global leaders an opportunity to undertake study, research and professional development.

In 2012, the Australian government invested $334.2 million in Australia Awards, enabling 4,900 recipients from more than 145 countries to undertake study, research and professional development.

The government has been supporting international scholarships for 60 years, beginning with the Colombo Plan in the 1950s. Since then, more than 100,000 people have benefited from these scholarships.

In 2012, Indonesia, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea were the three largest recipient countries of Australia Awards, with 55 per cent of incoming recipients from the Asia region.

CAUSINDY is proud to partner with an organisation that has such a strong track record in developing person-to-person links between Australia and Asia.

The Indonesian Embassy becomes a supporter of CAUSINDY!

We are pleased to announce that the Indonesian Embassy has agreed to support the 2013 Conference of Australian and Indonesian Youth (CAUSINDY). The Indonesian Ambassador to Australia, Pak Nadjib Riphat Kesoema, recently met with members of the CAUSINDY organising committee in Canberra.

At this meeting, Pak Nadjib was very supportive of the ideals of the conference, including the role of young people in advancing the bilateral relationship. The Embassy has agreed to provide an Indonesian lunch for delegates at the Indonesian Embassy, which will include traditional entertainment.

We are grateful for the support and friendship of the Indonesian Embassy and look forward to working together to make CAUSINDY 2013 a rewarding experience for everyone involved.

CAUSINDY welcomes new executive partner, the University of Melbourne

The University of Melbourne has just committed to become an Executive Partner and major sponsor of the Australia Indonesia Youth Association’s CAUSINDY 2013. CAUSINDY is excited to partner with the University of Melbourne given the university’s well-known expertise in Indonesian studies.

Professor Simon Evans, Pro Vice-Chancellor (International), University of Melbourne, said, “The University of Melbourne is committed to developing the next generation of leaders in the Australia-Indonesia relationship. We welcome this opportunity to support this excellent learning, networking and development event for young Australians and Indonesians.”

Professor Helen Sullivan, Director of the Melbourne School of Government, said, “The MSoG is designed to empower and inspire individuals to make a difference on a global scale. We welcome the opportunity to work with young leaders from Australia and Indonesia and to support them in developing their capacity to make wiser decisions, build stronger public institutions and shape shared futures.”

Professor Tim Lindsey, Director of the University’s Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society said, “One of the greatest challenges to the bilateral relationship between Indonesia and Australia is mutual lack of knowledge and understanding. Building linkages between the young people of both nations is essential to building a strategic partnership between our two countries as we face the ‘Asia Century’”.

This support complements the University of Melbourne’s Asialink Centre’s proud history of collaboration with the Australia Indonesia Youth Association, including recently co-hosting a Next Generation Indonesia-Australia cultural exchange forum.

At CAUSINDY 2013 the University of Melbourne will facilitate a workshop, with speakers selected by the university. Make sure to keep reading our blog posts as we will update readers with information about this session closer to the conference date.

We welcome the University of Melbourne to CAUSINDY.

Delegates announced for CAUSINDY 2013!

The Conference of Australian and Indonesian Youth (CAUSINDY) today announced the thirty young leaders who will take part in this year’s inaugural event.

View the full list of delegates from Australia and Indonesia.

The conference, which is an initiative of the Australia Indonesian Youth Association, is being held at the Australian National University and will be attended by young leaders from a range of fields, including environmental scientists, food security specialists, lawyers, diplomats and social entrepreneurs, to name just a few.

Delegates will have the opportunity to connect with senior leaders in business, government, and academia, and will work throughout the conference to produce a series of concrete policy recommendations to be released to industry and government after the event.

Benazir Syaril, Finance manager of Amatha Microfinance, and a member of the Indonesian delegation, said that CAUSINDY represented an exciting opportunity to improve the bilateral relationship in her area of expertise:

“Microfinance is more than a mere tool offering financial services to the ‘unbankable’ people. Microfinance can be used as entry point for Indonesian and Australians to exchange and transfer their knowledge through social innovations and investments. Through this, I believe that the two nations can build a more sustainable and people-oriented relationship in the future”

CAUSINDY comprises a four-day program and includes highlights such as a private lunch at the Indonesian Embassy, a gala dinner and a curator-led tour through the Indigenous art section of the National Gallery of Australia.

A networking event will also be held on Friday 18 October at the National Gallery. The event will be co-hosted by the Australia Indonesia Youth Association, whose members will be in attendance alongside members of the PPIA (the Indonesian Students Association). At the event, members of government and industry will be able to meet delegates of CAUSINDY and members of other key bilateral youth groups.

“We are aiming to provide the opportunity for industry and government to rub shoulders with the bilateral leaders of the future,” said Bede Moore, conference director and founder.

“If you are interested in the bilateral relationship, this is an immensely rare opportunity to meet its youngest – and best performing – proponents,” he said.

Tickets for the NGA networking event can be purchased upon inquiry through CAUSINDY.

CAUSINDY also boasts an impressive line-up of senior speakers who will advise the delegates on critical issues in the relationship. Speakers include Mr Sid Myer, AM, former Ambassador to Indonesia Richard Woolcott, Santo Darmosumarto assistant advisor on International relations to Indonesian President, Kirsten Saywers CEO of humanitarian relief agency RedR, and Professor of Islamic Law at University of Melbourne, Tim Lindsey.

Karina Akib, conference director and co-founder, said the committee had been impressed by the breadth and quality of applications. “It’s amazing to see how many young Australians and Indonesians are passionate about bilateral ties and have already demonstrated outstanding leadership in the relationship. We believe it’s really important to help these young leaders strengthen that relationship and support their personal growth as leaders”

CAUSINDY is sponsored by a range of academic, corporate and government sponsorship.