Programme description

ILO’s Aceh programme utilized ILO’s international expertise on employment to address immediate and development concerns regarding employment issues. Growing out of a series of early steps after the tsunami, its development was based on inter-agency work on damage assessment and strategic planning for the emergency response, rehabilitation, and reconstruction, which then served as inputs for the overall framework for recovery and reconstruction. During the recovery and reconstruction phases, ILO implemented an integrated programme to promote employment and livelihoods which addressed key lines of work in the areas of employment services, rural infrastructure, prevention of child labour, skills building, local economic development, and enterprise development for women and youth. The programme was implemented in partnership with UN agencies, international and national organizations.

Programme objectives

• Getting people back to work
• Empowering the socially disadvantaged
• Helping the economies of Aceh and Nias to recover

Programme strategy

Starting with immediate emergency services and inter-agency collaboration, services gradually moved toward institutional capacity building for local governments and non-governmental organizations. ILO’s technical expertise in occupational safety and health, vocational training design, business management training, local resource-based infrastructure approach, gender equality promotion, and multi-stakeholder planning for local economic initiatives proved to be useful as most organizations had funding for direct services but not enough to put in place measures to address medium- and longer-term development concerns. ILO’s technical inputs thus focussed on enhancing better service delivery networks to ensure that local workers have better working conditions, skills and access to necessary services such as employment information, business training, and credits for business start-ups. In addition, a greater part of the ILO work prioritized institutional capacity building so that they were attuned and able to design and implement programmes and services that effectively generate jobs for men and women workers.

Key partners

• Local authorities in Aceh and Nias: District Public Works, Regional Manpower Office, Regional Education Office, Vocational Education Centres (BLKs)
• Trade unions
• FAO, UN-HABITAT, UNDP, British Red Cross, UNORC, OCHA

Achievements to date

• Infrastructure: District Public Works in Aceh Besar, Bireuen, Pidie, Nias and Nias Selatan, together with small-scale contractors, implemented the local resource-based infrastructure work in the rehabilitation of 118 km of rural roads, generating 210,000 worker days. Gradual improvements were made in the hiring of women in the road sector.
• Microfinance: BQB in Aceh expanded its capacity from one office to four branch offices, marketed its loan programme for micro businesses, and recorded a 160% growth rate, while FAOMASI in Nias improved its management capacity and showed a 287% growth rate as of December 2007.
• Local economic development: Through multi-stakeholder planning exercises, local strategies were formulated and implemented by and with other organizations for the fisheries sector in Teluk Dalam, Nias, and the tourism sector in Pulau Weh, Aceh.
• Business development services: 26 business development service providers and 124 trainers actively use the standard training materials to support local men and women in Aceh to start and improve their businesses. Six organizations implement programmes targeting women entrepreneurs. In 2006, 42% of the Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) trainees started or improved their businesses after attending the training.
• Preparing young workers for the labour market: Five community learning centres provided remedial education, life skills and prevocational training packages for youth in their communities. The entrepreneurship training modules (Know About Business) have been integrated in senior high schools and vocational high schools in Aceh.
• Employment services and vocational training: Implementation of the Guidelines for Emergency Employment Services which registered workers, referred them to employers and provided vocational skill training has supported the reconstruction work of over 50 organizations.

For further information please contact:

ILO Office for Indonesia and Timor-Leste
Menara Thamrin, Level 22
Jl. M.H. Thamrin Kav. 3
Jakarta 10250
Tel. +6221 3913112
Fax. +6221 3100766
Email