Sat, 06 May 2000

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.