UN allocates USD 2 million funding package for UN COVID-19 Response and Recovery in Indonesia

The United Nations has allocated USD 2 million in funding to bolster their COVID-19 response in Indonesia to protect the most vulnerable groups from the devastating socio-economic fallout from the health crisis.

The United Nations (UN) COVID-19 Response and Recovery Multi-Partner Trust Fund (COVID-19 MPTF) is a UN inter-agency finance mechanism launched by the UN Secretary-General to support low- and middle- income programme countries in overcoming the health and development crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fund’s assistance targets those most vulnerable to economic hardship and social disruption.

In Indonesia, the project - Protecting People:  Supporting the Government of Indonesia and key stakeholders to scale up Inclusive Social Protection Programmes in Response to COVID-19 - will provide financing to ensure that Indonesia’s most vulnerable population, particularly women and children of marginalized groups are protected and safeguarded from the adverse social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The United Nations continues to respond to the immediate health crisis, but in tandem we must also plan for a fast and sustainable recovery,” said Niels Scott, United Nations Resident Coordinator, a.i. in Indonesia. “The Indonesian fund allocation aims to ensure that in these times of socio-economic crisis no one, particularly children and women, is left behind. It is our priority to support the Government in protecting progress made to date in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

“We thank the Governments of the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, and Denmark who have provided the first contribution to launch the Fund and which will help support Indonesia’s response to the pandemic and its impacts on human lives and livelihoods,” he added.

The COVID 19 pandemic is having a devastating impact on the socio-economic and food security status of the extremely poor, the vulnerable and the middle class in Indonesia. Rapid impoverishment has affected almost a 150 million people, with a significant proportion of them facing income loss, food insecurity and malnutrition. Children, women and the elderly are the most vulnerable in this context, with a vast majority of them living in densely populated provinces of Indonesia. 

In response, the initial funding package aims to support these groups through social and economic protection mechanisms that scale-up cash transfers, broaden social safety nets, and meet the educational and food security needs of children; and through digital innovations that boost employment and strengthen social service delivery and healthcare provision.

It offers support to the Government of Indonesia and key partners (civil society, private sector, faith-based organizations) through three major channels:  enhancing the inclusivity of the social protection system, strengthening the governance of the social protection response to COVID 19, and introducing innovations for a more efficient and effective social protection response.

This assistance is part of the UN’s broader COVID-19 response in Indonesia to help the authorities respond effectively to this unprecedented crisis. The UN country team continues to support the Government to prepare and address immediate health needs, as well as to respond to the socio-economic impact and plan for a rapid recovery.

About the UN COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund

The Secretary General launched the UN Framework for the immediate socio-economic response to help social and economic recovery in middle and lower-income countries. The framework guides the actions of the UN system through the next 12 to 18 months. While a significant proportion of the $17.8 billion portfolio of sustainable development programmes across UN entities will be adjusted towards COVID-19 needs, additional funds are being sought through the Response and Recovery Trust Fund.

The Response and Recovery Trust Fund will support efforts in low- and middle-income countries. The financial requirements of the Fund are projected at $1billion in the first nine months and then will be subsequently reviewed.

The Indonesian project will be implemented by UNDP, UNICEF, WFP and UN Women, in collaboration with all other UN agencies resident in Indonesia.

The proposed joint programme aims to ensure that “Indonesia’s most vulnerable population, particularly women and children of marginalized groups are protected and safeguarded from the adverse socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis”, with a focus on 1) Scaling up Social Protection, 2) Improving planning, communication, partnerships and delivery of the social protection response, and 3) Advancing Innovation.

About the UN Implementing Agencies

UN Development Programme (UNDP)

UNDP brings its technical expertise in adaptive social protection, disaster recovery and reconstruction, as well as innovative approaches in ensuring a ‘whole-of-society’ approach.  It has initiated programmes involving socio-economic impact and mitigation. It works with ministries on providing policy recommendations to cushion the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on economic recovery. Its’ work with other UN agencies focuses on social protection, procurement of critical healthcare equipment and other social welfare programmes. UNDP has collaborated with WHO and IOM to procure ventilators to be distributed to hospitals nationwide. It has also provided, via its office in China, to provide masks for health care workers in Indonesia.

UN Women

UN Women will focus on integrating and mainstreaming the gender perspective into COVID-19 response and recovery to mitigate the socio-economic impact and safeguard people and livelihoods, including support to the government and key stakeholders in developing comprehensive policy and programme interventions to protect the human rights of women and girls in COVID-19 response and recovery.

World Food Program (WFP)

WFP will focus on analysis of socio-economic data and information from the pandemic period and integrate it into the early warning (VAMPIRE) platform. WFP will provide support through conducting regular analyses on the impact of COVID-19 on food security and nutrition conditions of vulnerable populations as well as market functionality to inform policy and programme formulation.

UNICEF

UNICEF will focus on the child-responsive aspect of social protection services in relation to the Government of Indonesia’s responses to COVID-19. UNICEF, a leading global partner on social protection, has expertise ranging from cash transfer programmes to social welfare services. UNICEF’s social protection activities include generating evidence on child poverty and vulnerability, and the impact of social protection programmes on children and communities; translating social protection goals into laws and policies; providing technical support to national and sub-national partners through core diagnostics, registries, monitoring and evaluation systems, and decentralized capacity development; as well as enhancing the responsiveness of social protection systems, especially in times of crises.

Contact:

Francyne Harrigan, Director, UNIC Jakarta

E: harriganf@un.org | M: 0811 972-2345

For more information, go to:

https://un.or.id/covid-19/ or follow us on Twitter @UNinIndonesia