NZAID

NZAID's bilateral programme in Indonesia and relief, reconstruction, and development work in Aceh and Nias

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New Zealand's aid programme to Indonesia

The Indonesia programme is the New Zealand government's largest bilateral programme in Southeast Asia . The allocation for 2009/10 is $16 million.

The Indonesia programme is targeted largely to the Eastern islands and gives priority to basic education, sustainable rural livelihoods, conflict prevention and peace-building, and governance, in accordance with the agreed bilateral strategy.

The New Zealand government works closely with the Indonesian Government to ensure its programmes are aligned with national development priorities and strategies. New Zealand 's aid programme is delivered in close cooperation with national and sub-national government agencies.

Support to Indonesia has also been provided from outside NZAID's bilateral programme, through humanitarian, regional, and NGO programmes, the New Zealand's overseas aid programme State Sector Development Partnerships Fund (formerly the Government Agencies Fund), and the Asia Development Assistance Facility.

For more information about New Zealand 's aid programme to Indonesia click here.

New Zealand 's support following the Asian tsunami

The Indonesian Government estimated that the tsunami caused damage in Indonesia in excess of US$4.5 billion. Approximately 680,000 people were displaced or lost their homes. More than 160,000 people lost their lives, with at least 30,000 listed as missing. As many as 560,000 people were left without employment or livelihoods.

In addition to the extreme hardships caused by the earthquakes and tsunami, Aceh had endured more than 30 years of recurrent civil conflict between the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka/GAM) and the Government of Indonesia. This had seriously hampered development efforts. Nias was also relatively underdeveloped; a situation accentuated by its isolation.

Immediate New Zealand government funded responses to the Asian tsunami in Aceh included:

  • the International Labour Organisation designed and run reconstruction skills training, which assisted women to generate income, and provided capacity strengthening for vocational training ($0.5 million New Zealand government contribution)
  • the International Organisation for Migration funded housing rehabilitation, and a women's counter-trafficking programme ($2 million New Zealand government contribution)
  • the Aceh Police funding supplied training, motorcycles, typewriters and houses to the police. Training continued through to 2008 ($0.2 million New Zealand government contribution)
  • technical assistance in natural hazards management: New Zealand hazards specialists worked with the World Bank to map hazard ‘hot spots', and to train engineers and contractors. A forestry specialist assisted non-government organisations with the importation of timber ($0.3 million New Zealand government contribution)
  • support for SurfAid International that helped to deliver emergency supplies and provide medical treatment into remote areas by helicopters after the Nias earthquake ($0.25 million New Zealand government contribution)
  • funding for UNFPA (the United Nations Population Fund) to assist the local government to provide full and comprehensive information on demographic and socio-cultural characteristics of the population in Nangore Aceh Darurssalam (NAD). This was aimed at ensuring effective planning and implementation of reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts. There were concerns for the safety of a significant numbers of teenage girls who were now heading households ($1.4 million New Zealand government contribution)
  • the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) programme of support to NGOs to re-establish their offices through a Community Recovery Programme ($0.59 million New Zealand government contribution).

New Zealand 's support for relief and reconstruction work in Aceh and Nias – 2004 onwards

Following the earthquake and tsunami in December 2004 and the earthquake in Nias in early 2005, assistance for relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction in Aceh and later Nias was approved by the New Zealand Government, totalling $20 million over five years.

The key elements of the NZAID strategy were to work in accordance with the Government of Indonesia's reconstruction plan in identified priority sectors, preferably with existing, proven partners to deliver effective development to the affected regions.

In addition to this $20 million bilateral commitment, NZAID provided a further $20 million for tsunami relief in Asia under non-bilateral programmes (funding to New Zealand NGOs and untied support via the United Nations system). Much of this was spent in Indonesia .

As part of the bilateral and non-bilateral funding the New Zealand government's ongoing engagements in Aceh have included commitments to:

Multi-Donor Trust Fund

The Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Aceh and Nias (MDF) was set-up at the request of the Government of Indonesia (GOI) with strong support from the World Bank to pool donor contributions to finance the enormous reconstruction programme, including a $12 million contribution from the New Zealand Government. At the same time the GOI established the Agency of the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction for Aceh and Nias (BRR), the lead agency for the reconstruction programme. The BRR had the mammoth task of not only rebuilding Aceh and Nias but building them back better than they were before.

The MDF approach allowed NZAID to assist those most in need. The reconstruction effort, under the ‘build back better' mantra and with immense community input, has seen a new network of 3,000 kilometres of quality roads constructed, new schools, health facilities, bridges, airports, fishing boats, places of worship and an influx of cash to the local economy. Many residents, who prior to the disaster were renters or squatters, now own their own homes and women who were excluded from land ownership before the tsunami now have property titles and new found inheritance rights.

The BRR closed its doors in April 2009 after achieving its objectives, returning its responsibilities for the outstanding programme elements to mainstream Indonesian government organisations (including the Ministry of Public Works and the National Planning Agency).

SurfAid International

In the Aceh and Nias region, alongside MDTF, NZAID is providing long-term support ($3 million over three years) to SurfAid International for a community health programme on the island of Nias . On Nias up to 50 percent of children have moderate to severe malnutrition and no access to basic healthcare, a situation only made worse by the tsunami and earthquake. NZAID's direct involvement with SurfAid has had a noticeable difference to communities on Nias.

International Labour Organization

The New Zealand government provided further support to International Labour Organization for livelihoods work and capacity strengthening initiatives.

Head of Mission Funds

Head of Mission Funds enabled the Indonesian Institute for Disaster Preparedness to develop a coordinated disaster management plan in Nias.

Tsunami Evaluation Coalition

NZAID also made a $50,000 contribution towards the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition in 2006. This learning and accountability initiative aimed to promote a sector-wide approach to evaluating the tsunami response in order to optimise learning, develop longer-term evaluation procedures and improve public understanding of what was achieved with tsunami

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