With the launch of APRIL2030 commitments, PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) under the umbrella of APRIL Group has laid out a series of targets to reach by 2030. The targets are designed with quantifiable indicators to ensure that the achieved progress aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
One of the four commitments stated in APRIL2030 is inclusive progress. The inclusive progress comprises targets to empower the community through initiatives in the fields of health service, education, and gender equality.
The important point in the inclusive progress is the targets to (i) alleviate extreme poverty within 50-kilometer radius of APRIL’s operational area, (ii) improve education and universal access to affordable basic healthcare, (iii) lower stunting prevalence among children under five in Riau Province down to 50%, and (iv) promote women’s effective participation in the socioeconomic sector and accommodate equal opportunities for them to develop their skills.
Through this study, SMERU has identified villages within 50 kilometers of the RAPP’s factory with a high poverty rate and will analyze these villages’ livelihoods and characteristics. RAPP will use the findings as the basis for designing (i) intervention programs aimed at alleviating extreme poverty and (ii) activities to monitor the intervention programs and evaluate the achievement of the inclusive progress targets in the APRIL2030 commitments.
The study covered the following two activities.
- Conducting a preliminary study so that RAPP could achieve the APRIL2030 inclusive progress
- Identifying the main indicators to achieve APRIL2030’s inclusive progress, providing baseline data for the targets related to healthcare and stunting prevalence, and designing monitoring and evaluation activities for the two programs related to poverty and stunting reduction
In this study, we will conduct a review of RAPP documents and related literature to see any synchronicity between the programs and indicators in the APRIL2030 targets. This study will also collect quantitative data on the indicators of the inclusive progress in the APRIL2030 commitments. In the last stage, the research team will conduct follow-up discussions with the RAPP’s community development program team and other relevant stakeholders to develop the design for monitoring and evaluating programs to reduce poverty and stunting.
