Claims Of Citizen Literacy Increasing, Anies Baswedan Proposes Jakarta To Be The World Book City To UNESCO

The Governor of DKI Jakarta, Anies Baswedan. (Photo: DKI Jakarta Provincial Government Public Relations)

JAKARTA - The Governor of DKI Jakarta Anies Baswedan proposed the capital city of Jakarta to be selected as a World Book City to UNESCO (UNESCO World Book City). Anies has submitted his nomination proposal since 15 April.

According to Anies, Jakarta deserves to be the World Book City. This is because, in recent years, Jakarta has experienced an increase in citizen literacy due to support from the main program of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government.

For example, until 2020, it was recorded that 19 percent of publishers in Indonesia were in Jakarta and had registered 14,906 ISBNs. Jakarta is also the venue for a number of events such as the Indonesia International Book Fair (IIBF), the Jakarta International Literary Festival (JILF), and the Jakarta Content Week (Jaktent).

"We also set up in many locations and points in public spaces that provide books for residents, which can be read on the spot. This is in line with our proposed theme, Everybody's Reading. This is part of our joint efforts to present Jakarta as the World Book City, ”said Anies in his statement, Saturday, May 1.

Anies said that his intention to nominate Jakarta as a City of Books could not be separated from the struggles and imaginations of Indonesians during the independence era.

The imagery referred to, among others, is about an independent state, a state that protects its citizens, which unites all components of the nation, and administers social justice. This imagination was then transformed by the nation's founders into the promise of independence.

"Imagination is built through words, through sentences. Spread through books, magazines, newspapers, mass media. Especially in Jakarta, where the first book publisher was established and became a venue for major national discussions. This is also where Indonesian independence reverberates, "explained Anies.

"Based on the historical aspect and its relation to literacy and bookkeeping, Jakarta has proposed itself to become the World Book City and will also submit a proposal as the City of Literature. Jakarta is very ready to welcome both of them," he continued.

For information, the submission of this proposal by the Jakarta Book City Committee was ratified by Governor Decree Number 742 of 2020. The tagline that was carried was "Eja.kar.ta, Everybody's Reading".