Deputy Minister for People's Empowerment Encourages Village-Based Green Development Collaboration to Eradicate Poverty

Jakarta – The Deputy for Coordinating Village Community Empowerment, Underdeveloped Areas, and Specific Regions in the Ministry of Coordinating People’s Empowerment, Abdul Haris, attended and served as a speaker at the SIGAP Programme Expo event in East Kalimantan and North Kalimantan, organised by the IRE Foundation and the Nusantara Nature Conservation Foundation (YKAN) in Yogyakarta.

The event, titled ‘Green Knot: Celebrating Collaboration in Regional and Village/ Hamlet Development’, provided a shared platform for central government, local government, NGOs, academics, the business world, and communities to exchange best practices in village- and area-based green development.

In his presentation, Abdul Haris stressed that green development and village community empowerment must proceed in an integrated manner through multi-stakeholder collaboration. According to him, economic development can no longer be separated from social and environmental aspects, especially in facing challenges such as climate change, poverty, and regional disparities.

‘Future village and rural area development must be capable of creating inclusive, sustainable growth while still maintaining environmental carrying capacity. Therefore, synergy is needed between central government, local government, NGOs, academics, the business world, and communities,’ said Abdul Haris in a written statement on Tuesday, 12 May 2026.

Abdul Haris also conveyed that villages and rural areas play a strategic role in supporting the national agenda for poverty alleviation as mandated by Presidential Instruction No. 8 of 2025 on optimising poverty alleviation and eradicating extreme poverty.

Various approaches such as social forestry, local economic development, agroforestry, village tourism, and strengthening community institutions are deemed capable of serving as empowerment instruments as well as creating new job opportunities in villages.

The forum also discussed the importance of strengthening programme coordination at the regional level so that various cross-sectoral interventions can be more integrated and on target.

Data-based approaches, area strengthening, and development based on local potential became one of the main focuses in supporting the transformation of green development in Kalimantan.

This event also featured local governments from East Kalimantan and North Kalimantan, community support partners, academics, and various organisations that have been actively supporting sustainable environment-based rural area development and village community empowerment.