The Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Indonesia (FKM UI) held a webinar titled “The Roles of Social Sciences and Humanities in Dealing with Covid-19 Pandemic”, on Tuesday (2/8), on Zoom dan Youtube. The webinar saw the involvement of several facuilties in the university, including the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP), Fakultas of Law(FH), Fakultas of Administrative Sciences (FIA), Faculty of Psychology (FPsi), and the Faculty of Humanities (FIB).
The aforementioned webinar served as a pre-conference to The International Teleconference on Technology and Policy in Supporting Implementation of Covid-19 (ITTP-Covid19), held from 6 to 8 August 2022. Supported by the ASEAN Secretariat and the ASEAN University Network (AUN), ITTP is a consortium inaugurated in 2021 by 27 universities in Southeast Asia, including UI. The consortium aims to provide a platform for researchers to build initiatives in conjunction and plan strategies and efforts towards post-Covid recovery, particularly in Southeast Asia.
The webinar was attended by figures of note, such as University Secretary dr. Agustin Kusumayati, M.Sc., Ph.D.; an expert from FEB’s Covid-19 Task Force Turro S. Wongkaren, Ph.D.; and experts from other faculties: Inaya Rakhmani, Ph.D. (FISIP UI); Dr. Qurrata Ayuni, S.H., MCDR. (FH UI); Neni Susilawati, M.A. (FIA UI); Sali Rahadi Asih, M.Psi., MGPCC, Ph.D. (FPsi UI); Mina Elfira, M.A., Ph.D. (FIB UI); and Sulistiadi D. Iskandar, M.Sc., (FEB UI).
In the keynote, dr. Agustin stated that this webinar was held for the express purpose of gathering ideas and thoughts from socio-humanitarian experts, ones that may be implemented in efforts towards post-pandemic recovery in Indonesia. “Covid-19 became a epidemic 2.5 years ago, and has had impact on every aspect of human life. It turns out that problems in healthcare have impacts on other aspects of life — economic, business, social, and humanitarian. We are fortunate enough to hear of ideas and experiences from experts on the role of the social science and humanities in post-pandemic recovery in Indonesia.”
Inaya explained the role social science plays during the pandemic in Southeast Asia. The role of the social sciences during the pandemic in the 11 member countries of ASEAN: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste ,and Vietnam, has been studied by the Global Development Network (GDN) and Asian Research (ARC) UI, the latter ryn by FISIP UI. Social sciences, outside their formal structure, play an important role in exposing the social dimensions of healthcare, such as those related to research on social inequality and vulnerability, both of which are exacerbated by the pandemic.
“Social sciences contribute to the discourse of public information and often influence public policy. Social sciences also contribute towards cooperation between communities, organizations, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). An example is the cooperation between Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand in providing food and medicine programs and increasing job opportunities.”
Other experts delivered the results of their findings and proposed solutions expected to create a sense of security and resurgence in Indonesia after the pandemic. Their ideas include law and parliamentary response to Covid-19, a review of mental health during quarantine, efforts to balance female employement, both in the domestic and public sectors, after Covid-19, and small and medium-sized businesses during Covid-19.
Results of the studies mentioned above were later discussed in ITTP-Covid19. This joint platform was a forum for exchanging ideas and insights related to post-Covid-19 recovery. Researchers involved in ITTP used results of the studies as the basis for formulating policy proposals and identifying technologies that can be used in a post-Covid-19 recovery scheme. This initiative has also facilitated the implementation of the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework, a consolidated strategy towards post-Covid-19 recovery designed by and for member states of ASEAN.
The first ITTP-Covid19, held in 2021, has succeeded in covering several areas, from the most basic of issues to practical new normal approaches and recovery plans, as well as their implementation. This year’s ITTP-Covid19 is expected to learn and capitalise from successes earned last year, creating policies that allow post-pandemic recovery to be performed swiftly.
