Brief history of UNICEF in Indonesia
UNICEF first aided Indonesia in 1948 when an emergency call came in for immediate assistance following a sever drought in Lombok. In 1950, the first official cooperation began between UNICEF and the Government of Indonesia. In the 1960s UNICEF evolved into a development organization concerned more generally with child welfare rather than just emergency relief. By 1962 UNICEF was operating a major nutrition program in Indonesia that reached 100 villages across eight provinces.
By November 1966, Indonesian Foreign Minister Adam Malik signed a new Letter of Agreement with UNICEF and Indonesia after Indonesia rejoined to the UN. The early focus of the cooperation was the survival of the children before it is expanded and diversified into some other focus areas that have been beneficial to both parties. For over 50 years, UNICEF has been playing significant roles to help the government develop lives of children and women. Today, UNICEF operates twelve field offices, supporting programs in 15 of Indonesia’s 33 provinces and reaching over 20 millions Indonesians. UNICEF jointly with its partners also successfully helped develop and lobby for the adoption of the new Child Protection Law in 2002 that serves as legal basis for children’s rights protection.
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