EC and Indonesia: A partnership in development

EC and Indonesia: A partnership in development

Development cooperation between the European Commission (EC)
and Indonesia started in 1976. The basic criterion has been that
it should focus on Indonesia's own development priorities. This
meant that during the 1980s and early 1990s, this emphasized
support for the government's policy for self sufficiency in rice
production. Following a major donor conference in Yogyakarta in
February 1992, the decision was taken to allocate the bulk of EC
development assistance to activities in the forestry sector.

All development assistance given by the EC to Indonesia is in
the form of grants. Over the period to 1999, the EC has made
available euro 325 million to Indonesia for development projects.

Indonesia's forests are one of our planet's three great
tropical domains -- containing a vast range of plants and
animals, many of which exist nowhere else. During the last
decade, Indonesia's forest resources have been depleted by about
1.6 million hectares per year, while another five million
hectares were damaged in the 1997/1998 fires alone.

At present, the EC is sponsoring five projects in the forestry
sector, together with a liaison office form the EC-Indonesia
Forestry Program (ECIFP), ranging from sustainable production
forest management to forest conservation. The total value of the
ECIFP is euro 106 million, of which the EC is financing euro 85
million.

In March senior officials from both Indonesia and the EC met
in Brussels to discuss the direction of future cooperation.
Development assistance was one of the main issues discussed and
it was agreed that in the future, the focus of the relationship
in this sector could widen to include not only forestry-related
issues but also poverty alleviation and projects in the fields of
good governance and institutional strengthening.

One recent initiative is a cooperation project with the
National Family Planning Coordinating Board, providing support to
maintain a continuous supply of contraceptives during the present
economic and financial crisis. The EC has made available a grant
of euro 15 million. The EC is also supporting a South-South
Cooperation program which gives opportunities for officials from
Mali and Senegal to obtain firsthand experience on the
implementation of the Family Planning program in Indonesia. For
this program, the EC is assisting with a grant of euro 205,000.

The EC also provides assistance to non-governmental
organizations here. Since 1976, it has assisted 106 projects
totaling euro 9.7 million. Through this, the EC provides direct
support to the poorest members of the community, responding to
their basic needs. The assistance supports a variety of projects
such as constructing housing for low-income families, income-
generating training for the disabled and developing community-
based ecotourism.

On the humanitarian front, the European Community Humanitarian
Office (ECHO) -- the largest provider of humanitarian aid
worldwide -- has supported relief projects in the sectors of
nutrition, health, water and sanitation, and disaster
preparedness training in Irian Jaya, Yogyakarta, Lampung, Maluku
and East Nusa Tenggara. In 1997-1999, ECHO allocated a total
amount of euro 7 million for humanitarian aid in Indonesia. Most
recently, the focus has shifted to offering relief assistance in
situations of civil unrest and violence. ECHO is supporting
humanitarian projects to assist internally displaced people
living in shelters and with host families in Maluku, Aceh and
West Timor.