All indications are that the economic crisis in Indonesia, especially in the formal sector, will not be over in the near future. After a contraction in the economy of approximately 14% in 1998, predictions are that the Indonesian economy would either experience no growth or would continue to decline in 1999, at a rate of up to 3%. This makes it extremely important to ensure the good performance of the Social Safety Net (SSN) programs which are designed to help the poorest groups to meet basic needs in food, health, children’s education, and employment.

The Newsletter presents two different efforts to improve the monitoring of the crisis and of the SSN programs design to help those most affected by it. These are: a Community-Based Monitoring program being piloted in NTB, West Java and Jakarta, and the work of the NTT Posko Informasi Rawan Pangan, a network of NGOs working to improve knowledge about and response to the crisis in NTT. In both cases we have found that opening up the lines of communication among communities, local government, and local organizations is the key to improving both the targeting and the quality of SSN program implementation.

Open lines of communication would also allow the central government to accommodate specific local conditions and needs. Research findings presented in the ‘Focus On’ section of the Newsletter reveal that the "cheap rice" (OPK) program and the labor intensive, padat karya, programs did not receive a warm welcome in some places because specific local conditions and needs were ignored.

In a SMERU Special Report, we present further information from the Kecamatan Rapid Poverty Assessment, which identifies the areas of greatest impact of the crisis based on increased use of specific coping strategies. This analysis is consistent with the earlier findings presented in Newsletter No. 2, and helps deepen our understanding of the nature and location of the crisis.