IPB Alumni Won the Ramon Magsaysay Award 2017
Ir. Abdon Nababan, alumnus of the Faculty of Animal Husbandry of Bogor Agricultural University (FAPET IPB) cohort 19 won the prestigious Asian level Prize. The man who is currently active in Lawalata (nature lover) program won the Ramon Magsaysay Award 2017 for Community Leadership from all over Asia.
The Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation has on Thursday, 27 July 2017, in Manila, the Philippines, made an announcement that Abdon Nababan has been selected as the laureate of the Ramon Magsaysay Award 2017 for the category of Asian Community Leadership. The Ramon Magsaysay Foundation is a tribute to inspiring leadership and bringing about change. Some of the laureates of the award were the 14th Dalai Lama in 1959, Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) in 1993, and Syafi’i Ma’arif (PP Muhammadiyah) in 2008.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award made a statement that Nababan is a leader who can bring about changes. His courage and advocacy have become the voice and face for the Indigenous Peoples Alliance in Indonesia.
Abdon is the leader of the Masyarakat Adat di Nusantara (AMAN Indigenous Peoples struggle in Indonesia) even before the reform era. The five-annual event of the Indigenous Peoples' Congress appointed him as Secretary General of AMAN, in two consecutive periods, namely 2007-2012 and 2012-2017. Now Abdon sits on the National AMAN Council 2017-2022 representing the Region of Sumatra.
In its leadership period, AMAN's work has contributed positively to the struggle of the rights of indigenous peoples in the country. Some of them are Decisions of the Constitutional Court. 35 / PUU-X / 2012 on Indigenous Forest, Inclusion of Indigenous Maps as Thematic Map by Geospatial Information Agency, and National Inquiry by the National Commission on Human Rights on violations of indigenous peoples' rights in forest areas. AMAN also actively encourages and facilitates the Draft Law on Indigenous Peoples (RUU MA). The bill is now in the National Legislation Program of the House of Representatives for 2017.
Still in its leadership period, AMAN ensured the inclusion of six points related to indigenous peoples in the vision and mission of President Joko Widodo (known as NAWACITA). The most obvious result was the handover of the Decree on the Recognition of Indigenous Forests to nine indigenous peoples by President Joko Widodo at the State Palace at the end of December 2016.
This annual award is awarded by the Philippines-based Ramon Magsaysay Foundation. This year's delivery ceremony is scheduled for August 31st in Manila. The Asian Nobel Prize was officially announced on Thursday, July 27, 2017. (Wied)
