Bappenas: Swedish Crown Princess highlights inclusive development in Lombok
The Deputy Minister of National Development Planning/Bappenas, Febrian Alphyanto Ruddyard, stated that the visit of UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) Goodwill Ambassador Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden to Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), highlights inclusive, resilient, and sustainable development.
The visit took place from 5-6 September 2024, accompanied by the UNDP Representative in Indonesia, Sara Ferrer Olivella, and the Governor of NTB, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal.
“These two days briefly represent the meaning of development for us. Communities that recover, protect, and move forward together. These values also reflect the principles we have long upheld in partnerships, ranging from sustainable development to climate resilience and the blue economy, which are values aligned with our national priorities, Astacita,” Febrian said in an official statement in Jakarta on Thursday.
Lombok’s experience following the devastating 2018 earthquake demonstrates that recovery is not merely about rebuilding what was lost, but also about creating a society better prepared for future shocks.
At SMK Negeri 1 Pemenang in North Lombok, the Swedish Crown Princess witnessed firsthand how earthquake-resistant public infrastructure, rebuilt through the UNDP’s Programme for Earthquake and Tsunami Infrastructure Reconstruction Assistance (PETRA) with funding from KfW, has helped restore essential services while embedding resilience into the community’s physical foundations.
However, he added, resilience also depends on the ability of communities to restore livelihoods and create new economic opportunities.
Discussions between the UNDP Goodwill Ambassador and micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) actors at UPTD Bale KITA (Regional Technical Implementation Unit for Regional Product Packaging, Promotion, and Marketing) demonstrated the importance of entrepreneurship and local economic activity in transforming post-disaster recovery into long-term economic resilience, particularly for communities whose livelihoods depend on natural resources and tourism.
The visit also highlighted how digital transformation can expand access to better healthcare, ranging from the community level to the development of cutting-edge medical science.
At the Pemenang Health Centre, the Crown Princess studied SMILE (Electronic Immunization and Logistics Monitoring System), a digital platform developed by the UNDP and the Ministry of Health with support from the Global Fund and GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance.
By integrating vaccine logistics data, this system is considered to assist health facilities in managing supplies more efficiently and supporting the provision of more reliable essential health services.
During her previous visit to Jakarta, the Crown Princess also observed Indonesia’s growing capacity in the field of genomic science through the Biomedical & Genome Science Initiative (BGSi), which utilises whole genome sequencing to promote precision medicine and disease surveillance.
“Both examples show how digital transformation can play a role at various levels of the health system: strengthening the provision of daily primary healthcare services while enabling Indonesia to utilise cutting-edge science to detect disease threats and develop more targeted approaches in diagnosis and treatment,” the Deputy Head of Bappenas added.
In Gili Meno, the delegation explored blue economy solutions that connect the preservation of marine ecosystems with community livelihoods and innovative financing.
Gili Meno is one of the first locations for a coral reef insurance initiative in Indonesia. Indonesia possesses approximately 16 per cent of the world’s coral reefs, which support fisheries, tourism, food security, and coastal protection.
Coral reef-based tourism in the Gili Matra area (the Gili Meno portion of this region) is estimated to generate IDR 9.5 trillion annually, while the daily income of coastal communities remains below 15 US dollars.
To help face the risks posed by climate change, Bappenas and the UNDP have initiated a parametric insurance scheme that can provide funding for coastal communities when sea temperatures rise to levels that pose a serious risk to coral reefs.
This funding is intended to support the rapid recovery and rehabilitation of coral reefs, while also helping local businesses cope with the impacts of disruptions caused by coral bleaching—the loss of colour and life in coral due to stress from abnormal and excessively warm water temperatures.
Furthermore, the visit showcased seaweed cultivation as an example of how economic activities can be developed in harmony with the marine environment.
By providing alternative livelihoods that depend on healthy coastal ecosystems, seaweed cultivation demonstrates the blue economy’s potential to generate income while supporting the marine environmental resilience upon which the community relies.
During the final visit to Bayan, North Lombok, the UNDP Goodwill Ambassador studied community-based customary forest management and UNDP’s support in the verification process of customary forest areas through the UN-REDD Programme (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), with support from the International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) from Norway.
Through the ‘awig-awig’ customary law system, communities are said to protect the forests while maintaining traditions and rituals passed down through generations.