The first half of this year has flown by. We have experienced a host of social, economic, legal and political problems that have left us all feeling exhausted. Yet, as a nation we still have to solve another equally crucial problem, the question of poverty. This edition deliberately sets out to highlight poverty as an important issue which must not be allowed to become a secondary priority on our national agenda.

Basically, poverty should be a central concern for all parties within society. With this in mind, late in 2001 SMERU, in collaboration with the Poverty Alleviation Coordinating Board, developed and published a "Poverty Tool Kit". This user-friendly manual is an attempt to answer the most frequently asked questions about poverty, such as what are its underlying causes, and which strategies and policies should be put in place to reduce the level of poverty within local communities throughout the country. We have selected two of the key questions addressed in this tool kit for our readers. We have also chosen some excerpts from SMERU's recent research in Kabupaten Cirebon on local community efforts to fight poverty. These are presented in our “From the Field” column.

Drawing on their own particular strengths and expertise, similar concerns about poverty have also been expressed by many Indonesian NGOs across the archipelago. “News in Brief” provides our readers with a list of some of these NGOs dedicated to poverty reduction programs and activities. In addition, new perspectives on poverty reduction following the onset of regional autonomy are discussed in our “Focus On” section. The article stresses that local governments should play a bigger role and be more proactive in their endeavors to implement poverty reduction programs now that they have the authority to do so. Meanwhile, the state of poverty in 2000 in Indonesia, based on the latest SUSENAS data, is discussed in “And the Data Says”, indicating a considerable decline in the incidence of poverty throughout Indonesia between February 1999 and February 2000.