Indonesia Development Assistance

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Indonesia Development Assistance

New Zealand and Indonesia have had a development assistance programme since the 1950s, the same time as when diplomatic relations were established. A New Zealand Government tsunami aid package of NZ$68 million was announced on 18 January 2005, the biggest ever New Zealand response to a humanitarian crisis. The New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID) is responsible for managing this response. Of this package, approximately NZ$25 million was directed to relief and reconstruction programmes in affected areas of Indonesia in the 2004/2005 financial year. That was channelled through selected UN agencies operational on the ground and New Zealand NGOs working with local partners. A further NZ$20 million of the package has been allocated over a five-year period to an expansion by 50% of New Zealand's existing bilateral programme in Indonesia.

The overall focus of the wider Indonesia programme is on poverty elimination by supporting democratisation, economic reform and social development. The programme, with a budget of NZ$60 million over five years (NZ$40 million before the tsunami), concentrates on six key areas: Basic Education, Community Development, Natural Resource Development, Humanitarian Assistance, Governance, Institution/Capacity Building, and a long-term reconstruction and development programme in Aceh and Northern Sumatra. The five year programme comes to an end in 2008 and a new Indonesia programme strategy will be developed in early 2009. The new strategy will identify priority sectors and areas of geographic focus and determine the level and nature of future bilateral NZAID assistance to Indonesia.