NGO Focus: GTZ

In fact, GTZ is a governmental agency managing some of Germany's overseas aid, but as it has impact on the work of its NGO partners in Indonesia, we will take a look at here.

GTZ in Indonesia

Indonesia is a country on the move. Due to its regional significance the archipelago is accounted to be one of the anchor countries in South East Asia. GTZ has been working in Indonesia since 1975 on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Technical cooperation with Indonesia dates back to 1958.

Resulting from the agreement concluded during the government negotiations in October 2007 with the Indonesian Government and other donors, Development Cooperation is currently concentrating on the following three priority areas:

• Climate change
• Private sector development
• Good Governance/Decentralisation

The renewed priority area setting takes influence on the changed role of Indonesia in a global and regional context.

Throughout the negotiations Germany committed as well to provide financial assistance to support to fight avian flu and consultancy in the health sector.

After the devastating Tsunami of December 2004 in the Aceh and Nias Provinces, the German government provided huge additional funds for reconstruction of the affected areas. The extensive reconstruction programme that had been implemented will end in 2009. The main focus has been on the reconstruction of settlements, the rebuilding of the vocational training sector as well as the support for local administration and health services, and the facilitation of economic activities.

GTZ is in charge for regional projects with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat. The official partner on the Indonesian side is the National Development Planning Agency (Badan Perencanaan dan Pembangunan Nasional –BAPPENAS).

Priority areas in Indonesia

In consultation with the Indonesian Government and other donors, the current project portfolio in Development Cooperation is divided as follows:

Climate Change
Germany supports Indonesia in implementing its national climate action plan. The German Development Cooperation assists mainly programmes and projects such as “Nature and Climate Protection”, “City Traffic Emission Reduction” and “Forest and Climate Protection”. “Forest and Climate Protection” are tied to the German Development Cooperation’s longterm experiences of former forest management projects in Indonesia. In this connection, German Development Cooperation (GDC) supports the implementation of the forest management reform, the preparation of a future Post-Kyoto Protocol, and the establishment of new concepts for nature conservation, through incentive systems for emission reduction such as Reduced Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD).
In the sectors “Natural and Climate Protection” and “City Traffic Emission Reduction”, the Indonesian government will receive support to achieve its long term strategy of carbon-reduced development. Additionally, GDC supports capacity building of executive managers for the development of global and sustainable solution statements.

Private Sector Development
In terms of the Millennium Development Goals the German Development Cooperation promotes a socially balanced economic growth. This should allow as many people as possible to actively participate in the economic life. A basic requirement therefore is a competitive private sector and the access of a broad part of the population to more education. A sufficient supply of qualified manpower plays an important role in the competitiveness of businesses. Germany’s contribution in Indonesia therefore focuses on the private sector development as well as vocational training prioritizing on the support of small and medium-size enterprises.

Good Governance / Decentralization
Decentralization and democratization play key roles in development:, the old authority structures are gradually being replaced by more participative processes. German Development Cooperation has provided support to the Indonesian Government in crucial aspects of the decentralization process and the creation of a new legal framework. Also, competences and potentials of the local government officials should be strengthened (Capacity Development). Thereby, the public services should be improved and efficiently set up.