New Zealand supports poverty reduction efforts in Papua and West Papua Provinces

New Zealand Aid Programme has committed more than three million US dollars in principle to support development and poverty reduction in Papua and West Papua Provinces.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands, through its Embassy in Jakarta, has donated 5.8 million dollars to the project. These resources will be channelled through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which is working with BAPPENAS and the Governments of the two Provinces to implement the programme of capacity building and community development. The commitments were made during a ceremony last week to launch the cost-sharing arrangement between the New Zealand and Netherlands Embassies and UNDP together with Bappenas and the Governments of Papua and West Papua.

The resources that have been donated will be used to finance the second phase of a People-centred Development Programme that has been under implementation in the provinces, and which is aimed at addressing the high levels of poverty in the two provinces. During the first phase, which started in 2006, the programme achieved some important successes, particularly in helping to strengthen the capacity of the local governments in Papua and West Papua to better deliver services to residents. The partners all agree, however, that there is much more to be done.
“An important and key change in this Phase II is the greater emphasis for encouraging enterprise development at the sub-district level for small and medium sized businesses. This will strengthen resilience, provide livelihood opportunities and ultimately assist to improve the status of health and well-being of the beneficiaries,” said David Taylor, New Zealand Ambassador to Indonesia. “Addressing these underlying impediments to economic growth in the Papua’s provinces alongside the other components of the programme will thus reduce people’s vulnerability to poverty and provide a platform for sustainable economic growth.”

See link below for further details on this story:
http://www.undp.or.id/press/view.asp?FileID=20101021-1&lang=en