Jakarta, May 15, 2020 – Indonesian Minister for Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration (PDTT) has welcomed a future partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in tens of thousands of villages throughout the country.

Mr. Abdul Halim Iskandar made the statement during a virtual meeting with UNDP Indonesia Resident Representative Christophe Bahuet and his team on Thursday at which Mr. Bahuet outlined UNDP’s support offer.

“I am grateful that we have come together with the ultimate objective of strengthening the development of villages in Indonesia by tapping into the local wisdom and emerging with global perspectives,” said Mr. Iskandar during the hour-long virtual meeting.

“The sooner we can swing into action, the better it is. To speed things up we must agree on several items, but the sooner is the better,” he added.

Mr. Bahuet outlined four key points of UNDP’s proposed collaboration with the PDTT(Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Ministry; (I) COVID-19 response in villages through the digital transfer of village funds on cash for work programmes (2) Aligning the Village Development Index (IDM) with SDGs components (ii) The application of a Social Innovation Platform for the socio-economic development in rural areas, including the impact of COVID-19 and (IV) Strengthening national, regional and global information and 'knowledge sharing' of the successful practices under Ministry of PDTT programmes for rural development.

Mr. Bahuet said that forging cooperation with the Ministry of PDTT is in line with UNDP’s mission to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and ensure that no one in the villages is left behind.

“Villages in Indonesia form the backbone of the country’s development process. With over 75-thousand villages spread throughout Indonesia, rural development based on inclusion and digital innovation will be key to the the future of the country and to maintaining Indonesia’s status in the high Human Development Index category,” added Mr. Bahuet.

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MEDIA CONTACT

UNDP Indonesia Communication Specialist, Tomi Soetjipto, suryo.tomi@undp.org

UNDP Indonesia SDG Technical Advisor, Juliaty Sopacua. Juliaty.sopacua@undp.org