Poverty and Inequality Analysis
The first day I started assuming the position as the director of The SMERU Research Institute in August 2009, I was no stranger to the Institute and its staff. I was already familiar with the inside and outside of the organization. I had been a researcher at SMERU since its establishment and was appointed the deputy director in March 2003.
The year 2010 marked a new era in SMERU’s life. Early this year we finalized the process of purchasing our own building. The property is located at Jl. Cikini Raya No. 10A, Central Jakarta.
In 2011, SMERU staff was fully settled in at the new office in Cikini. This was marked by the resumption of our annual strategic meeting, which was held during a SMERU staff retreat in September in Bandung. In 2010, this activity was suspended due to our focus on moving and adjusting to the new office. In this year’s meeting, we focused on reviewing SMERU’s existing standard operating procedures (SOP) document.
During 2012, SMERU continued with its main activities on research, dissemination and outreach, networking, and capacity building. A major achievement for SMERU in terms of policy impact was gained this year with the assignment from the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) to assist in the development of the Master Plan for Acceleration and Expansion of Poverty Reduction (MP3KI).
The year 2013 was a busy time for SMERU. In addition to completing 11 studies, SMERU also organized 16 seminars and workshops during the year, including three international conferences. The first one was the Child Poverty and Social Protection conference, which SMERU hosted in cooperation with the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) and UNICEF in Jakarta on 10–11 September.
