1 Background
From its early emergency response activities,
ILO's Tsunami Response programme has grown into a full-fledged integrated
development programme centered around relevant parts of ILO's core mandate.
The focus is on "Getting people back to work, empowering the socially
disadvantaged, and recovering the Acehnese and Nias economy". The programme
is built on the principles of local ownership, sustainable and equitable
socioeconomic development, and institutional capacity building, the starting
point being the needs of the people and their communities. The ILO Programme
aims to leave behind sustainable institutions and enhanced capacities of
partners.
In partnership with ILO's constituents (the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration and local Manpower Offices, Trade Unions and Employers' Organizations) as well as a range of other partners, the ILO Programme is grounded in an analysis of the labour market as well as community and individual employment interests. The programme's different components interlink with one another both at the planning and delivery process to create an enabling environment for economically reintegrating people and at the same time enhances the absorption capacity of local economies.
Programme components include 1) employment services, 2) vocational and skills training, 3) enterprise development and microfinance, 4) labour-based infrastructure rehabilitation, 5) child labour prevention and 6) local economic development. Gender equality and the participation of ILO's social partners are the cross cutting issues.
Throughout the programme there are provincial-level initiatives as well as local activities concentrated primarily in Banda Aceh, Aceh Besar and Nias. The various ILO programme components endeavor to work together to the greatest extent possible to enhance impact and the internal coherence of the programme. Work in other districts also takes place, for instance as part of larger joint UN programmes. Beyond Banda Aceh there is an ILO presence in Calang, Meulaboh, Lhokseumawe and Nias.
ILO's main institutional partners are the BRR, the Provincial Government, as represented by the Manpower provincial and district offices. Collaboration exists with a range of government agencies, NGOs and, as part of the UN System, ILO works closely with many UN agencies.
The ILO Aceh Programme has received funding in excess of US$ 12 million, coming from ILO's own resources as well as from a range of donors. Substantial funding has been made available by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under its Emergency Response and Transitional Recovery programme. Other donors include Australia (AusAID), New Zealand (NZAid), United States (Department of Labour), Finland, the Netherlands, Ireland, Canada (CIDA), OCHA, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions -- Asian and Pacific Regional Office, the British Trade Union Congress, and two private sector companies namely Migros and ADDECO. At the end of 2005, the Multi Donor Trust Fund for Aceh and Nias approved further funding of US$ 6-million to extend the work on labour-based infrastructure rehabilitation. Currently the overall programme is fully-funded until end of June 2006. Beyond that, the ILO has already received requests and funding to sustain certain components. For other parts of the programme discussions with BRR and local government are ongoing to see what the requirements are for further ILO assistance. On this basis further funding will be mobilized.
At present the ILO has around 35 staff in Aceh, of which 7 are international staff.
2 Progress report's purpose and structure
ILO's real interventions in Aceh started in February 2006, after initial assessments in January. This progress report presents achievements, challenges, and lessons learned of the ILO Aceh programme during the period of February 2005 -- February 2006. As such the report has three main purposes:
Firstly, it presents the outcomes of the implementation of the ILO Aceh Programme for submission to the different stakeholders. This includes a specific progress report in the format requested by BRR and a presentation to the ILO's constituents in Indonesia (Government as represented by the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, the Trade Unions and the Employers Organization). For this a summary report will also be prepared in Bahasa Indonesia. It also includes reporting to the different donors on the utilization of their funding, some of which was earmarked for specific components, others being more general support to the overall programme.
Secondly, the report identifies key challenges, gaps, and opportunities to be addressed as the ILO Aceh Programme is moving away from an immediate-crisis response programme. As such it is the basis for the workplan for the coming period, allowing the ILO team and partners to reflect on the achievements and challenges to adapt strategies, re-direct efforts etc. The basis for this was an internal programme review in October that confirmed the need for a transition from 'emergency response' to more medium term livelihood rehabilitation and development, while at the same time recognizing there are still unmet short-term needs of the tsunami victims.
Lastly, the report seeks to document good practices and lessons learned for the ILO to consider in its future crisis-response operations.
The report consists of 7 sections:
- ILO Contribution to Damage Assessment and Initial Strategy
- First 3 Months: ILO Early Response in Aceh
- Livelihood Recovery: April -- September 2005
- Current Issues: October 2005 -- February 2006
- Monitoring and review of ILO Aceh Programme
- Overview of work and achievements by each technical component
- A list of all relevant documents and publications, tools and training materials used and/or developed by ILO Aceh Programme.
- Overview of funding for the ILO Aceh Programme
(pdf* format - 276 KB)