The Presidential Instruction (INPRES) No. 5/2007 concerning the Acceleration Development in Papua and West Papua instructs the establishment of an Assistance Team responsible for coordinating and synchronizing sector programs and policies necessary to support the development acceleration program in the provinces.

The Team is chaired by the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs (CMEA), with 10 other ministries, including BAPPENAS and Ministry of Finance as the members. INPRES 5/2007 also indicates five priority areas for the provinces’ development, including the improvement of basic infrastructure required to provide better access to services for the communities living in remote and rural areas as well as the ones close to the national border. It also specially indicates the need for special efforts to accelerate the provinces’ development through the transportation infrastructure development.

Considering the complexity of issues and challenges of the infrastructure development in the provinces, a sustainable approach to capacity building is needed. The development of local HEI capacities for infrastructure development is a way to ensure sustainability of efforts since their participation is strategic in providing assistance to improve government capacities in infrastructure development management. CMEA has indicated that technical support is for improving the capacity of local Higher Education Institutions (HEI) to support and supervise the local government in undertaking planning, design, implementation and monitoring of infrastructure development in the provinces.

The objectives of this project are to:

  • Analyze capacity development needs of local governments and communities in the implementation of infrastructure development; and to
  • Analyze the capacity of local HEIs to provide education, training and coaching resources and services as a response to the capacity development needs which have been identified.

Want to know more? Please visit our Papua Project website.