Indonesian governmental and educational leaders
to discuss partnership with UMass Boston
A high level delegation from Indonesia will be visiting UMass Boston to meet with the dean and faculty of the College of Public and Community Service this Friday, February 29. The delegation include of Dr. Ferdy Firdaus, the Vice Rector of the University of As-Syafi'iyah, and Dr. Tutty Alawiyah, a former Minister for Women’s Affairs in two previous governments in Indonesia.
During their visit, possible areas of collaboration between the two universities will be discussed, along with plans for an upcoming conference, “Rebuilding Sustainable Communities for Children and Their Families After Disasters,” which will be held at UMass Boston later this year.
The visit will also include a public presentation by Firdaus and Alawiyah, titled “Rebuilding Sustainable Communities for Children Orphaned by the Asian Tsunami in Indonesia.” The presentation will be held from 1:45 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. in Wheatley Hall, 4th floor, room 138.
“I am indeed very pleased that during the visit, the University of Massachusetts Boston and the University of As-Syafi`iyah will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding,” said CPCS Dean Adenrele Awotona. “This will provide a unique opportunity for the faculty at UMass Boston to work collaboratively with their counterparts in Indonesia to develop programs that will assist the survivors of the December 26, 2004 tsunami to rebuild their communities in a sustainable and holistic manner. It will also encourage the exchange of faculty and students; promote the development of specialized exchange study programs at both sites; advance cooperative academic research initiatives; specify mechanisms for jointly organizing workshops and conferences on rebuilding sustainable communities for children and their families post-tsunami; and support the exchange and sharing of teaching and academic research related information and materials.”
In particular, UMass Boston’s Center for Rebuilding Sustainable Communities after Disasters will seek to work closely with Indonesia’s leaders, non-governmental organizations, researchers and grassroots associations in the longer term reconstruction process. This will be done within the context of the government of Indonesia’s comprehensive strategy which was developed to guide the reconstruction process. The five central objectives of the strategy are: Restoring people’s lives, restoring the economy, restoring livelihoods in communities, rebuilding local governance and government, and designing a regional development plan.
The 2004 tsunami was the worst natural disaster in the history of Indonesia, causing heavy loss of life and great destruction in Aceh. It killed over 110,000 people (including 45,000 students and 1,870 teachers), internally displaced an estimated 700,000 persons in 95 locations (including at least 100,000 children), orphaned many, destroyed or damaged 1,962 schools in Aceh, and rendered 20 percent of the Acehnese population homeless. Total damage from the tsunami was estimated at between $4.5 and $5 billion.
According to a technical report which was prepared by Indonesia’s National Development Planning Agency and the International donor community in January 2005, “the sectors most impacted were primarily private-sector dominated assets and activities that relate directly to the personal livelihoods of the affected urban and rural communities: housing, commerce, agriculture, and fisheries, and transport vehicles and services ($2.8 billion, or 63% of total damage and losses).” The report also noted that “the biggest public sector damages were to infrastructure, the social sectors, and government administration ($1.1 billion, or 25% of total damage and losses). Monetized environmental damages are also significant ($0.55 billion, or 12% of total damage and losses)…”
The conference, which is being organized by the Center for Rebuilding Sustainable Communities After Disasters, will run from November 16 through 19, 2008, and is designed to build on last July’s highly-successful “Rebuilding Sustainable Communities in Iraq” conference, but with a worldwide focus on helping those affected by both man-made and natural disasters. For more information, go to www.cpcs.umb.edu/rsccfd.
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About the Center for Rebuilding Sustainable Communities after Disasters
The primary purpose of the Center for Rebuilding Sustainable Communities after Disasters (CRSCD) is to work in close collaboration with practitioners, academics, researchers, policy makers and grassroots organizations in the United States of America and in all the continents of the world in their search for the most appropriate and sustainable ways to rebuild their communities after disasters (both natural and man-made). Examples of man-made disasters would include bad governance and poverty, environmental pollution, AIDS, wars, and conflicts. The Center engages in academic, service and consultancy activities.
About the College of Public and Community Service
The College of Public and Community Service (CPCS) was founded in 1972 to extend the land grant mission of the university by focusing on public and community service in urban areas and by providing an education in the liberal arts and social sciences with training for professional careers. CPCS is distinguished by its competency-based system of education, the innovative learning options it provides, and by its commitment to promoting full participation in society through educational programs and professional practice.
About the University of Massachusetts Boston
Established in 1964, UMass Boston prides itself on providing challenging teaching, distinguished research, and extensive public service to Boston and the Commonwealth. Through its six colleges and two graduate schools, the university offers undergraduate and graduate study to 13,400 students in more than 150 fields. For more information, please see www.umb.edu.