USAID Awards $44 Million Contract to IRD For Community-Based Conflict Mitigation Program in Indonesia

Jakarta, Indonesia —March 3, 2008 — The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded IRD a $44 million dollar contract to mitigate social conflict and support peace building initiatives throughout Indonesia, IRD announced today.

"IRD has been active in Indonesia since 1999," said Dr. Arthur B. Keys, President and CEO of IRD. "We're excited to have the opportunity to implement a program that works with communities in Indonesia to build their future."

The SERASI program will assist local civil society organizations, public institutions, and other partners in targeted and specific activities that address the causes and consequences of violent conflict across Indonesia through community-based and community-driven activities, training, monitoring, networking, and other programs, particularly those which bring various stakeholder groups together.

The SERASI program will use a method called participatory decentralized development planning (PDDP) as the framework around which to mitigate social conflict and support peace building initiatives nationwide. The program will provide grants to tackle needs identified through the grassroots PDDP process for local, provincial, and national projects that promote respect for human rights and improved inter-group relations; institutionalize a legitimate peace process in Aceh; increase capacity to manage conflict; and support a democratic and transparent security sector.

“The key to the program is the PDDP process,” Keys added. “If the communities we are serving are engaged in making decisions about their own future, it ensures the program's sustainability and ultimately, its success.”

The program will begin in April 2008 and will operate in Aceh, Muluku, Sulawesi, and Papua provinces. Serasi means harmony in many of the languages spoken in Indonesia.

Founded in 1998 by Dr. Arthur B. Keys, Jr., IRD is a charitable, non-profit, non-governmental organization whose mission is to reduce the suffering of the world’s most vulnerable groups and provide tools and resources needed to increase their self-sufficiency.

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