This report covers the period 1 January to 30 June 2009.
In brief
Programme purpose: The purpose of the International Federation's country programme is to support the institutional capacity building of the Indonesian Red Cross, or Palang Merah Indonesia (PMI), as it is better known. In addition, the country office also aims to facilitate close partnerships, adhering to the integrated approach taken by the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in order to support PMI's programmes in Indonesia.
Programme summary:
The year 2009 is crucial for PMI as the national society will formulate its new five-year strategy, revise its statutes and elect a new central board. Hence, PMI's time and effort have mainly been directed towards these processes. This also includes the preparation of the general assembly in which the new strategic plan will be tabled for approval and the new central board elected.
Progress in institutional development as well as programme implementation is ongoing; albeit slow, due to the above time-consuming efforts.
The International Federation has started the process of coordinating and mapping the support of partner national societies, particularly in terms of capacity building and organizational development. This effort is expected to help PMI in managing the support and efficient use of available resources.
Over the next few months, the International Federation will focus on supporting PMI in further mapping support as well as collecting baseline data from chapters and branches. This in turn will help PMI in formulating its strategic plans. The involvement of chapters and branches should encourage a bottomup approach, ensuring that chapters and branches have ownership of the plan.
Financial situation: The 2009 budget has been revised from CHF 2,478,500 (USD 2.27 million or EUR 1.58 million) to CHF 4,469,040 (USD 4.12 million or EUR 2.93 million). Coverage of the budget is currently 70 per cent and expenditure for January to May 2009 is six per cent of the total 2009 budget.
Beneficiaries: The International Federation country office primarily supports the capacity building aspect of PMI. Hence, the main direct beneficiary is PMI's governing body and management.
Our partners: Within the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Danish Red Cross and Netherlands Red Cross continue to be the main partners of the national society, providing support to PMI's longer-term non-tsunami programmes. However, transition is taking place; the Movement's attention is shifting from the tsunami operation to a more nation-wide focus. Some partner national societies have expressed interest and have begun discussions with PMI about possible support for development programmes. Additionally, the International Federation and PMI continue to enjoy a relationship of respect and cooperation with the Indonesian government (at a technical level); several United Nations-based agencies, and national and international nongovernment organizations.
Contributions to this appeal have been received from American Red Cross, Danish Red Cross, German Red Cross, Japanese Red Cross, Republic of Korea Red Cross, New Zealand Red Cross/government and Swiss Red Cross.
On behalf of the Indonesian Red Cross, the International Federation would like to thank all partners and donors for their support towards this appeal.
Context
The national parliamentary election took place peacefully in April. This highlighted Indonesia's maturing democracy as the country becomes more stable. The global economic recession has affected Indonesia, although, economists have been quick to point out, that there is increasing resilience in the Indonesian economy.
During the period from January to May 2009, earthquakes occurred in West Papua, North Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi. Heavy rains leading to floods were experienced in Banten, Central Java, East Java, West Nusa Tenggara, and West Sulawesi, as well as the capital, Jakarta. However, more serious flooding was localized, causing less disruption and damage than in the previous three years. The province of West Java also experienced some landslides earlier this year. The Indonesian Red Cross, or Palang Merah Indonesia (PMI), as it is better known, at branch level with some support from the national headquarters, provided a range of services to the affected population. This included evacuating people to safer areas; providing first aid services; ensuring that there were field kitchen services; deploying medical action teams; distributing relief items; and the following through with the deployment of water and sanitation teams to provide potable water.
However, it should be noted that the economic situation and occurrence of disasters leads to increased community vulnerability, and highlights the pressing need of support efforts to increase their coping capacity and resilience through the capacity building of PMI.