European Union Ambassador to Indonesia Vincent Guérend is on a four-day visit to Papua, spending time in two cities in the province: Jayapura and Wamena. In a visit that kicked off on March 20, Guérend is assessing and obtaining information on the latest progress in the province’s development, especially in areas in which the EU has contributed.

Aspects of development that the ambassador is assessing during his visit include economic development, regional elections, governance, human rights and environmental protection, for which the provincial administration has received grants or funds from the EU.

During his visit, he is also scheduled to meet with regional administration stakeholders and representations of civil society organizations. Public officials whom the ambassador was scheduled to meet with during the visit include Papua Governor Soedarmo and Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Pol Boy Rafli Amar, among others.

Guérend’s current visit to Papua is his second trip to the province since his first visit there in September 2015.

“The EU has maintained a good relationship with Indonesia. We work together in various fields, such as industry, climate change, governance, democracy and human rights. Most of EU’s development cooperation programs in Indonesia — for instance, in health, education, climate change mitigation and sustainable economic development — have benefited Papua and its residents,” he said.

The EU has disbursed €2.5 million in assistance for the participatory monitoring by civil society of land-use planning for a low-emissions development strategy (ParCiMon) program in Papua that focuses on sustainable economic development. The project itself was implemented by the World Agroforestry Center in three regencies: Jayapura, Merauke and Jayawijaya.

The ambassador will discuss with civil society representatives environmental issues pertaining to climate change, focusing on capacity building and advocacy skills development in climate change mitigation.

This year, the EU also plans to create open proposal submission opportunities to help Indonesian civil organizations, especially those that operate in the country’s disadvantaged regions, to organize their own community development programs.

The ambassador is scheduled to visit the beneficiaries of the Global Fund Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) in the province. GFATM contributes 44 percent to Indonesia’s effort in the fight the aforementioned diseases. Throughout his visit, the ambassador will also seek feedback on how to boost the program’s effectiveness.

Furthermore, he is scheduled to visit schools that are beneficiaries of the EU’s Minimum Service Standards Capacity Development Partnerships (MSS CDP), for which the EU has already donated a €37.3 million grant to increase the quality of services at primary education providers in various regencies across Indonesia, including Papua.

The ambassador is also scheduled to conduct meetings with participants of a training organized in the SUSTAIN project, which seeks to boost judicial integrity, transparency and accountability through training for local attorneys. The project also specifically focuses on improving the legal process in environmental crime cases.