Action contre la Faim in Indonesia

(Baca versi Bahasa Indonesia)

A BRIEF HISTORY
Action contre la Faim - Indonesia has been establihsed in 1998 upon invitation of the Ministry of Health to Action contre la Faim - France to improve access to safe water and nutrition in Irian Jaya. Since then, Action contre la Faim - Indonesia
has provided assistance to more than 350.000 people affected by the major humanitarian crises the country has experienced: Maluku, Aceh, Jawa and Sumatera.

STRATEGY OF INTERVENTION
In spite of significant improvement in the country, 26% of Indonesian children under five still suffer from malnutrition (UNSTATS, 2006). Action contre la Faim - Indonesia strives at sustaining and improving the nutritional status of the most vulnerable fringe of population. This includes tackling the underlying causes of malnutrition such as economic hindrance to access food, inapropriate feeding practices or lack of water. Typically, areas targeted in this vast country include in priority are those affected by a mix of natural disaster and poverty, wheter in large cities or in remote locations.

FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
The 350 Action conte la Faim - Indonesia staff members (as of Sep 2006) run programs in 4 areas:

Nutrition

In Partnership with public health institutions, Action contre la Faim - Indonesia proposes technical support in detecting and treating malnutrition and micro-nutrient deficiencies.

Food Security Action contre la Faim - Indonesia implements a wide range of food security programs designed to safeguard access to food, to ensure self-reliance and to enhance resilience: besides its long experience in in large scale food distributions in the immediate aftermath of major disaster (Maluku, NAD, etc),Action contre la Faim - Indonesia carries out livelihood projects towards recovery and development like economic empowerment; agriculture, improvement of practices and diversification of production, and fishery.


Water and Sanitation
The aim of Action contre la Faim - Indonesia water and sanitation program is threefold:

• To improve and secure the public health status, hence the infantile nutritional status, of vulnerable populations by preventing water-borne diseases from spreading (construction of safe water supply systems, sanitation facilities, hygiene promotion).
• To increase household agricultural production by extending the cropping period beyond the rainy season and increasing the yields (small scale irrigation system, tanks).
• To decrease the economic burden of limited access to safe water, whether by making cheaper the cost of alternative sources or by reducing unproductive time spent in fetching water far away.

Disaster Risk Reduction

Action contre la Faim - Indonesia conducts a disaster management program aiming at strengthening anticipation and mitigation capacities inf flood prone Kelurahans of DKI Jakarta. Besides, in line with the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015, Action contre la Faim - Indonesiaincludes disaster risk reduction components in its projects that ensure their sustainability in disaster prone-areas.

INSTITUTIONAL EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
By its peculiar geographical position (located on a very active seismic area and under the influence of tropical climate), Indonesia is frequently exposed to natural disasters. In connection with the HFA, Action contre la Faim - Indonesia is developing a comprehensive emergency response plan. This includes tried and tested needs assessment methodologies, a roaster of experienced staff and pre-positioned stocks. Should a large scale disaster occur, the organization objective is to immediately deploy an integrated emergency responses (Watsan + Non Food Item + Shelter) for 10.000 people (fully operational by Q1 2007).

Writer : Rayendra Thayeb
Translator : Rayendra Thayeb