Overview
Australia is supporting Indonesia to rebuild and improve vital infrastructure.
In the last decade, Indonesia has been experiencing impressive economic growth but that has not generated enough jobs to allow the poor to move into more stable, formal employment. Many of these people live in rural areas—in 2010, 58 per cent of the nation’s poor earned their main source of income from agricultural activities.
Australia is providing assistance to the Indonesian Government’s National Program for Community Empowerment which aims to improve health and education services and increase opportunities for communities, particularly women, to access microfinance schemes to improve livelihoods. Australia’s funding for rural development is helping Indonesian farmers create sustainable livelihoods.
The Poverty Reduction Support Facility supports the National Team for Accelerating Poverty Reduction to increase rate of poverty reduction and reduce impact of shocks and stresses on the poor and vulnerable.
The Indonesia Infrastructure Initiative facility is a $150 million initiative aimed at supporting the Indonesian government address constraints to infrastructure investment and enable efficient and effective infrastructure service delivery. The Indonesia Infrastructure Initiative’s focus is on: water and sanitation; roads and transport; and cross-cutting policy and regulations.
Indonesia is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. It is home to the third largest area of tropical forest in the world however Indonesia ranks among the highest for deforestation, forest degradation and greenhouse gas emissions. Indonesia and Australia are serious about working together to address climate change.
Australia continues to consult with key Indonesian agencies and is targeting assistance to Indonesian needs in the area of research, good governance and policy making.