Jakarta, January 2012. Putera Sampoerna Foundation’s vision is to mold future Indonesian leaders and entrepreneurs that are capable to face the global challenges. To realize the vision, Putera Sampoerna Foundation participated in supporting ‘Parlemen Muda Indonesia’ (Indonesian Youth Parliament) event.

Parlemen Muda Indonesia is the first youth parliament in Indonesia that gathers around 33 representatives selected from all of the provinces and facilitate an annual conference to share views with their peers on recent issues.

Parlemen Muda Indonesia is held by Indonesian Future Leaders, a non-profit organization that focuses on youth empowerment for social change. The idea of a youth parliament was strongly influenced by the UK Youth Parliament, a successful program that was established 10 years ago. The program was adopted to inspire Indonesian youths to speak up, and to take action to overcome current challenges faced by the nation.

The selected delegates will participate in the Youth Parliament Assembly on Jan 30 to Feb 1, 2012. The assembly is the platform for the Youth Parliament delegates to share their ideas and views on particular issues that Indonesia faces, especially in three sectors, which are education, environment, and public health. The delegates will represent the interest of their provinces in aiming to achieve a national solution.

“Putera Sampoerna Foundation believes that education is the key in developing Indonesia’s society. Through the Parlemen Muda Indonesia event, the youth are taught to develop democracy by sharing their ideas and discussing the best solution for the country’s development,”Putera Sampoerna Foundation Managing Director Nenny Soemawinata said.

Aside from the assembly, the delegates will actively participate in other activities, such as institutional visits and academic discussions. They will also attend workshops and seminars with speakers from various areas of expertise. The aim is to provide the delegates with essential skills, such as public speaking, project management, fund raising, problem solving, especially involving the three main issues mentioned earlier, also to provide campaign training for the delegates.

Parlemen Muda also uses social media as a tool to educate and to promote democracy by conducting various programs through Twitter, Facebook and website to encourage youth to express their thoughts on various issues through writings, photos, videos, graphic designs, etc. This program is planned to be implemented annually, as a form of commitment on the continuity of youth participation in national politics.

It’s an honor for Putera Sampoerna Foundation to participate in supporting the Parlemen Muda Indonesia event as it is in line with our vision to mold Indonesian future leaders that are competent, have a strong moral fiber, and committed to the development of their society and country,Nenny Soemawinata said.

Putera Sampoerna Foundation has developed a Grand Strategy, Pathway to Leadership, which enables the Foundation to achieve its vision through its 4 pillars of activities and comprehensive education ecosystem. The future leaders are expected to contribute back to society and in the end bring positive changes to the nation and to also support the development in Asia.