Officials from the United States, through USAID, joined Bappenas for a visit to the provinces of Papua, West Papua, and Highland Papua for the launch of a new initiative to accelerate development in the region, the US Embassy in Jakarta said in a statement released on Tuesday.
Efforts to accelerate development in Papua are being carried out through the Papua Collaborative Governance Indonesia Project (USAID Kolaborasi), a five-year program to support Indonesia’s Master Plan for the Acceleration of Development in Papua.
USAID Kolaborasi will work with the government of Indonesia to strengthen its cooperation with development partners, businesses, and other stakeholders, while assisting the provinces of Papua and West Papua to use their Special Autonomy Funds in a way that maximizes the benefit to local citizens.
Together with Bappenas and provincial and district governments, USAID will support efforts to improve the quality of public service delivery and improve the skills of local agencies to oversee budget allocation and execution, as well as engagement with local citizens, the US Embassy said.
"From the previous discussion with local governments, we captured development challenges in Papua, particularly those related to the implementation of special autonomy," Deputy for Regional Development at Bappenas Himawan Hariyoga said.
Those challenges can be answered through the Master Plan for the Acceleration of Development in Papua, based on community needs, he added.
"This joint visit (to Papua) demonstrates our commitment to supporting the Indonesian government in realizing its goal of a prosperous Papua region," USAID Indonesia mission director Jeff Cohen said.
"This trip will also allow USAID and the government of Indonesia to better understand the development challenges and needs of Papua indigenous people in local development," he added.
The United States is committed to partnering with the government of Indonesia to address important development challenges, the US Embassy said.
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Reporter: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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