SUMMARY CONCLUSION TACKLING MALNUTRITION IN EAST NUSA TENGGARA NTT:
THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN INDONESIA 2000-2010 228
THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN INDONESIA 2000-2010 229
4.3.1.2 Brief history The integration of Tanah Papua into the Republic of Indonesia has been problematic for some
Papuans. After the 1949 Round Table Agreement, which officially ended Dutch occupation over the colony, the Indonesian government argued that according to the Round Table Agreement,
‘West Papua’ i.e., all the land west of the country of Papua New Guinea was part of Indonesia.
195
The Dutch disagreed with Indonesia’s position.
196
Numerous bilateral agreements between the two countries failed to produce any agreement. Ultimately in August 1962, the Dutch and
Indonesians, under UN supervision, signed the New York Agreement, by which the two countries agreed to transfer the administration of this land from the Netherlands to a United Nations
Temporary Executive Authority UNTEA. The period for the UNTEA would be from 1 October 1962 to 1 May 1963, followed by Indonesian control, with the agreement that an Act of Free
Choice would be held within five years.
197
The relations between Tanah Papua and the central government have long been complex due to a variety of historical causes, which relate back to Tanah Papua then Irian Jaya falling under
Indonesian control in the 1960s. The complexity of the relations is manifested in the call for secession by some political actors, most prominently leaders of the Organisasi Papua Merdeka
Free Papua Organisation.
198
In 1999, following the end of the Suharto period, President B. J. Habibie implemented decentralisation. Following this, Special Autonomy Otonomi Khusus for
Papua was adopted during the administration of Habibie’s successor, President Abdurrahman Wahid, as a step towards accommodating local demands and providing greater control for Tanah
Papua over the revenue from natural resources, including up to 80 per cent of the income derived from the province’s extractive industries.
199
The tensions between Tanah Papua and the central government, however, have not simply been a question of rebellion or secessionism, but rather
the much more complex issue of justice, human rights, prosperity and economic opportunity.
200
Unequal division of natural resources between central government prior to Special Autonomy, combined with government-sponsored migration transmigration of other Indonesians to Tanah
Papua, create a sense of marginalization among Papuans.
201
Many feel that they have become strangers in their own land.
202
This is compounded by poorer education and skills on the part of indigenous Papuans.
203
4.3.1.3 Economic and human development Despite having plenty of natural resources and greater access to resource revenues under Special
Autonomy, resources are not distributed equally and do not always result in improved living conditions for the poor. Instead, development is uneven and there are fluctuations in the number
of people living in poverty.
204
While Papua has the fourth highest Gross Regional Domestic
195 Chauvel, R. and Bhakti, I. N. 2004 The Papua conflict: Jakarta’s perception and policies, East-West Center: Washington, D.C. 196 Vandenbosch, A. 1976 ‘Indonesia, the Netherlands, and the New Guinea issue’, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Vol.71: 102-118
197 Borchier, C. and Vedi R. H. Eds 2003 Indonesian politics and society, a reader, Routledge Curzon: LondonNew York; Chauvel, R. and Bhakti, I. N. 2004 The Papua conflict
198 Bachtiar, H. W. 1963 ’Sejarah Irian Barat’ in: Koentjaraningrat and Bachtiar H. W. Eds Penduduk Irian Barat, PT Penerbitan Universitas: Jakarta
199 Blair, D. C. and David L. P. 2003 Indonesia commission: Peace and progress in Papua, Council on Foreign Relations: Washington, D.C. 200 Bertrand, J. 2007 ‘Papuan and Indonesian nationalisms: Can they be reconciled?’ in: Hedman, E.-L. E. Ed. Conflict, violence and
displacement in Indonesia , Cornell Southeast Asia Program: Ithaca, pp32-51
201 Chauvel, R. 2005 Constructing Papuan nationalism: History, ethnicity and adaptation: McGibbon, R. 2004 Plural society in peril; McGibbon, R. 2004 Secessionist challenges in Aceh and Papua: Is special autonomy the solution? East-West Center: Washington, D.C.
202 Ibid. 203 McGibbon, R. 2004 Plural society in peril
204 Halmin, M. Y. 2006 The implementation of Special Autonomy in West Papua, Indonesia: Problems and recommendations. Naval Postgraduate School: Monterey, California; World Bank 2005 Papua public expenditure analysis: Regional finance and service
delivery in Indonesia’s most remote region , World Bank: Jakarta; UNDP 2007 Harmonization of human development programme and
donors in Papua Province
Product GRDP per capita in Indonesia, this has not yet amounted to better access to public services and infrastructure.
205
One third of the population is living below the poverty line.
206
The percentage of poor people in rural areas is almost eight times as high as in urban areas 6 per
cent urban versus 47 per cent rural
207
, partly due to geographical distances and lack of access to transportation, which have proven to be a challenge for the rural poor when it comes to
enhancing their ability to earn a living.
208
At the district level, there are also huge disparities, with Merauke and Jayapura having the smallest proportions of poor residents 16 per cent and 19 per
cent respectively, and Yahukimo and Supiori having the highest both 51 per cent in 2009.
209
The World Bank 2005 reports that local government revenues doubled after the adoption of new policies on decentralisation in 2001, and that they further increased with the enactment of
the Special Autonomy Law. In 2003, the province of Papua was reported to have had the second highest per capita level of development spending of all provinces of Indonesia.
210
It is expected that local government revenues will further increase through 2021
211
, providing a considerable period of secure finance during which to plan and achieve local development objectives. The
opportunities provided by this apparently high level of productivity are, however, contrasted with considerable challenges to reducing poverty.
212
Papua has high per capita spending on infrastructure relative to other regions in the country.
213
These expenditures cover the transportation sector, as well as water and irrigation. Papua has the third highest infrastructure spending per capita with around IDR 44,000 per person in 2005.
214
This figure is twice as large as the national average of below IDR 20,000 per person.
215
However, the evidence suggests that this high rate of expenditure is not benefiting the ethnic rural Papuans
due to the uneven spread of Papuans in geographically vast Papua.
216
Papua, Nusa Tenggara and Maluku share the lowest rankings in terms of access to infrastructure in the sectors of electricity,
piped water and roads. Increasing access to piped water should be a priority, as the share of villages with access to piped water is exceptionally low.
217
Low income, access to education and life expectancy together are captured in the human development index HDI. Figure 4.3.2 shows the improving but still low levels for the HDI in
Papua. In 2007 the HDI is well below the national average 63.4 in Papua versus 73.4 nationally. Disparity is key when considering this issue, with a high level of inter-district disparity, much
of which can be attributed to the ruralurban split discussed earlier see annex 4.3. Among districts, the HDI ranged from 73.8 in Jayapura municipality to only 47.4 in the highland district
of Pegunungan Bintang in 2007. Yet, as Figure 4.3.3 demonstrates, even at the district level the HDI is improving slowly over time. Similarly, while the gender development index GDI and the
gender empowerment measure GEM are improving see Figure 4.3.2, similar differences to that of the HDI are found among districts see annex 4.3. As discussed in previous sections of this
report, poverty and low human development can have adverse affects on the welfare of the poor, especially women and children in poor families.
205 USAID 2009 Papua assessment, USAID: Jakarta; World Bank 2005 Papua public expenditure analysis 206 BPS - Statistics Indonesia 2009 Statistical yearbook 2009 based on the National Socio-Economic Survey SUSENAS 2008, BPS:
Jakarta 207 BPS - Statistics Indonesia 2008 Data dan informasi kemiskinan 2008 Buku 2: KabupatenKota, BPS: Jakarta
208 World Bank 2005 Papua public expenditure analysis 209 BPS - Statistics Indonesia 2008 Data dan informasi kemiskinan 2008 Buku 2: KabupatenKota; BPS - Statistics Indonesia 2009
Statistical yearbook 2009, based on the National Socio-Economic Survey 210 World Bank 2005 Papua public expenditure analysis
211 Ibid. 212 UNDP 2004 Indonesia human development report
213 World Bank 2005 Papua public expenditure analysis 214 Ibid.
215 Ibid. 216 Ibid.
217 Ibid.