Our Expertise
In the past decade Indonesia has witnessed efforts to bring together decentralization and a good business climate. There is no doubt that bringing investment into a region is one of the main challenges local governments have had to face.
In mid-2010, The SMERU Research Institute and UNICEF initiated a collaboration to promote issues concerning the child, vulnerability, and poverty. As some of our readers may already know, the Institute has been in the forefront of conducting studies and producing analyses on a wide range of areas related to poverty, e.g., social protection, health, and education, for over a decade.
Since the 2008/09 global financial crisis (GFC), the price of crude palm oil has fallen sharply. This has had a negative impact on the people of one village in Riau who depend on oil palm plantations and processing.
The existing dichotomy between the central and regional governments under the framework of decentralization may pose policy gaps. Lack of protection for migrant workers is one example of the effects of these policy gaps.
Having not yet recovered from the impact of the two Bali bombings, the export demand for pottery from one village in Kabupaten Lombok Barat that is a production center for pottery has experienced a sharp fall since the onset of the 2008/09 global financial crisis. In the absence of other skills, women making the pottery have been forced to cease working or return to making cheaper pottery for household needs.
