WFP to close down its Indonesian office<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The World Food Program will close down its
\ncountry office here next month on the grounds that Indonesia is
\nwealthy enough to provide food for its 195 million people.<\/p>\n
William Affif, the program officer in charge, said yesterday
\nthe closure is part of the world body's move to focus its
\nactivities on low-income countries and on emergency operations.<\/p>\n
\"The office will be closed by the end of May. However, should
\na very serious condition arise, Indonesia is still eligible for
\nemergency assistance,\" Affif told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The United Nations considers Indonesia as a newly
\nindustrialized country which has succeeded in reducing the
\nabsolute poverty experienced by about 60 percent of the
\npopulation in 1960 to 14 percent in 1994.<\/p>\n
It notes that between 1960 and 1993, Indonesians' life
\nexpectancy rose from 41 to 63 years and its infant mortality rate
\ndecreased from 139 to 58 per 1,000 births.<\/p>\n
Affif said with income per capita reaching more than US$900,
\nIndonesia will soon obtain the status of a middle class country
\nby the year 2000.<\/p>\n
The World Food Program of the Food Aid Organization has been
\nassisting Indonesia since the program's inception in 1963, when
\nit helped victims of the eruption of Bali's Agung Mount in the
\nsame year.<\/p>\n
Other activities include assisting Indonesia with economic and
\nagricultural projects, such as providing foodstuffs for
\nparticipants of the state-sponsored transmigration program during
\nthe first months of the resettlement.<\/p>\n
Statistics at the World Food Program show that over its 32-
\nyear presence in Indonesia, it has assisted in 58 projects with a
\ntotal grant of US$210 million.<\/p>\n
From 1963 through 1994, according to the figures, the program
\nhad donated about 2,000 tons of foodstuffs valued at US$2.3
\nmillion.<\/p>\n
It was also involved in the provision of food to thousands of
\nIndochinese refugees on the Galang Island in eastern Sumatra
\nbetween 1989 and 1995.<\/p>\n
Affif said that although Indonesia -- which was self-reliant
\nin rice production in 1984 -- still has poverty enclaves in areas
\nlike East Nusa Tenggara and Irian Jaya, it is able to cope with
\nits food problem.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, he said, is now in the position of contributing to
\nthe World Food Program's efforts within impoverished countries
\nfound in Africa or other countries riddled by civil strife and
\nreligious and racial hatred.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia can turn itself from a recipient to a donor,\" he
\nsaid. Jakarta has made contributions in-kind, as well as
\nproviding 50 percent of the local operation costs, he added.<\/p>\n
For similar reasons, the program will also close down its
\ncountry offices in other places such as the Philippines and in
\ncountries within South America.<\/p>\n
The UN Economic and Social Council accepted Indonesia as a
\nfull member of the Committee on Food Aid policies and Programs in
\n1993. (pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/wfp-to-close-down-its-indonesian-office-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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