Makassar – Hasanuddin University in Makassar and IOM Indonesia have signed a memorandum of agreement to strengthen cooperation on public health and mobility.

“This agreement commits our faculty and IOM Indonesia to work together more closely toward our common goal - the pursuit of better health for people on the move, regardless of their race or nationality,” said Hasanuddin University Dean of the Faculty of Public Health Dr. Aminuddin Syam.

Makassar is a rapidly growing urban area with new residents moving in from rural areas throughout Indonesia as well as forcibly displaced persons. It also hosts 1,750 refugees and asylum seekers who are supported by IOM and depend on services provided by the municipality.

In his lecture to students gathered at the signing ceremony, Dr. Raz Mohammad Wali, Senior Migration Health Advisor of IOM Indonesia, noted that “IOM works in close collaboration with partners, including academia, to contribute towards the physical, mental and social well-being of mobile populations and host communities.”

A port city of 1.6 million people, Makassar is one of 26 cities within the ASEAN Smart Cities Network - a collaborative platform launched in 2018 under Singapore’s ASEAN chairmanship, which aims to synergize smart city development efforts across the ASEAN bloc.

“The involvement of Hasanuddin University in the Building Healthy Cities project will bring enormous value to the citizens of Makassar who continue to be generous and kind hosts to the people from throughout Indonesia and the world in the city,” Son Ha Dinh, the Eastern Region Program Coordinator of IOM Indonesia remarked in closing. “Building on previous successful collaboration we had from other years, it is a privilege for us to have this collaboration on healthy cities and migration.”

The multi-country USAID-funded project - “Building Healthy Cities” - managed by JSI Research & Training Institute, in partnership with IOM supports Smart City initiatives and urban health coordination structures.  Learn more about BHC here.

Prof. Sukri Palutturi added during his lecture, “A healthy setting is where people actively use and shape the environment.  The environment does not shape you; no, it is you who shapes the environment.  That’s why a healthy setting involves many sectors, and it is not merely the health sector that determines health.”

“Our healthy city programme has a role in determining the direction, goals, objectives, activities and steps including mobilization, encouraging and strive for various government, private and community activities to realize Makassar City as a healthy city,” concluded Dr. Hj. Naisyah Tun Azikin, the head of the Makassar city health department. 

For more information, please contact Dr. Ahmad Isa at IOM Makassar. Tel: +62 411 858 115, Email: aisa@iom.int.