When discussing development in Indonesia, many international organizations are involved. One of them is West Papua, a province in eastern Indonesia full of history in its integration with Indonesia.
Presence of International Organizations in Indonesia
Several provinces in Indonesia recognize and get international donors to develop their regions. In each area, these organizations also have their reasons or missions.
International donors gather to assist in Aceh, East Nusa Tenggara, Papua, and West Papua. The province is the area with the most significant role for global organizations.
The presence of the three regional international donors in some provinces Aceh is mainly due to disaster and conflict. The tsunami wave disaster in December 2004 had a massive impact.
It also provided momentum for the Helsinki peace agreement in August 2005.
The Helsinki peace agreement was crucial for the justice issues at the root of Aceh’s conflict with the Indonesian government.
The Role of International Donors
International donors came to help in the emergency phase and eventually coordinated with the government.
The coordination was carried out to restore post-disaster conditions, one of which was in West Papua.
After a disaster, the status of an area can declines to become a poor area. The existence of poor groups is a test for the government.
Moreover, in the province, many places are still categorized as inferior. Some people were poor before the disaster, while others became poorer afterward.
With the presence of international organizations, those impoverished by the tsunami were able to regain the capacity for a more productive life.
After the tsunami, thousands of international organizations were present in Aceh with diverse characteristics.
NGOs were more active and quicker in financing humanitarian aid programs because the funds raised from donors went into a particular account for disaster response.
This mechanism is more effective than official disaster response pledges that often fail to materialize.
This mechanism is also applied in other provinces that need post-disaster recovery assistance.
1. Asset Rehabilitation
The structural division of low-income people is carry out by international donors in West Papua, one of which is by rehabilitating destroy assets. And in addition, reconstruction was also accelerate.
In the next phase, the government and international donors will involve participation in economic activities.
In addition to disaster relief programs, post-conflict peace situations are also carry out to finance the families of conflict victims.
Humanitarian solidarity has succeeded in leading the role of international donors to channel assistance to people experiencing poverty in various forms,
Ranging from aid to health facilities and infrastructure, education, clean water, and skills education.
2. Poverty Reduction
The leading actor in poverty reduction in Papua is the World Bank. With the massiveness of poverty in the regions and its remote reach into the interior, it is only possible to rely on the role of the government.
Although not in a particular form for poverty reduction in Papua and West Papua, humanitarian solidarity has also driven the emergence of human rights monitoring organizations.
The mechanisms put in place by these international organizations have changed the traditional roles of local communities.
Local economic icons and social relations have changed with new instruments and terms developed by international donors.
Problems Faced
The international organizations World Vision, Oxfam, Save the Children, Unicef Committees, CARE,
And Catholic Relief Service are still list as the commitment holders and actors in post-disaster humanitarian assistance projects in several areas in NAD and Nias Provinces.
However, the main problem with donor assistance lies in the mechanism of knowledge and technology transfer to local communities.
In addition, program ownership by local governments and local communities for program sustainability has also been problematic.
Furthermore, there are issues related to the tendency of international roles to dominate over local NGOs in West Papua.
Often the flow of funds made among international organizations is significant at the expense of, not by, the needs of local people.