An official from Indonesia’s National Development Planning Ministry has stressed the importance of reinforcing village development as strategic response to the escalating climate crisis, which can lead to land degradation and conversion, increased disaster incidents, and higher poverty rates.
This was based on data from the Environment and Forestry Ministry that recorded that around 9,075 villages were vulnerable to disasters and the impacts of the climate crisis.
“Indications of environmental preservation include strengthening village resilience to climate change and strengthening disaster response,” the ministry’s Deputy for Regional Development, Tri Dewi Firgiyanti, noted in a statement from her office on Thursday.
To this end, she called on the importance of local economic transformation, social resilience, and preservation of the rural environment.
According to Firgiyanti, boosting the local economic landscape targets developing superior village products through the development of IKM Centers, revitalization of Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDes), transformation of integrated village economies, and the development of rural tourism.
Firgiyanti highlighted that social resilience is aimed at inclusive villages and social accountability, increasing the preservation and resilience of local customs and cultural values of the village.
Moreover, she stated that rural development is a core component of Astacita and represents the 6th National Priority, focusing on a bottom-up approach to economic advancement that aims to stimulate economic growth, promote equitable economic distribution, and combat poverty.
“The development program aims to increase sustainable rural independence,” she affirmed.
Currently, approximately 16.25 percent of villages in Indonesia have achieved independent status.
According to Firgiyanti, the conceptualization of independent villages encompasses basic services and quality facilities; ecological and natural resource resilience; good cultural identity and social capital; economic capacity to prosper; and integrated, accountable, and adaptive governance.
Furthermore, village development is legally prescribed under the Village Law, which grants villages a degree of autonomy. Consequently, Firgiyanti emphasized the critical need to enhance village planning and development quality and ensure policy coherence between higher administrative levels and local village governance.
Currently, the government is implementing the Village Government and Development Strengthening (P3PD) program.
The five components involved are the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Villages, Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of National Development Planning.
Source from ANTARA
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