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MDF Enters Its Final Year on a High Note: Partnerships Delivered Promised Results

Contact:
Puni Anjungsari, MDF External Relations and Communications Officer
Phone +6221 5299 3437 (direct), cell +62 8188 77 016, or pindrayanto@worldbank.org

Jakarta, 31 January 2012 – The Multi Donor Fund for Aceh and Nias (MDF) today reported strong results as it enters its final year of implementation. In its Progress Report 2011, entitled Partnerships for Sustainability, the program highlights key achievements in its reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in Aceh and Nias to date, in which strong leadership of the national and regional Governments has been the cornerstone of success. In the report, the MDF also reveals plans for its final year. “Today we are pleased to report that the overall portfolio is achieving high quality results as we enter our final year,” stated Stefan Koeberle, Country Director of the World Bank. “Positive impacts are well established in both Aceh and Nias and we will continue to implement projects until December 2012.” MDF reported that nearly 20,000 homes, 511 local government offices or village/town halls, and 670 schools have been reconstructed or rehabilitated. The program has reconstructed and built key transportation infrastructure, including five critical ports, 570 km of national and provincial roads, 87 km of district roads, and more than 3,0000 kilometers of village roads.

Moreover, improvements in water and sanitation facilities have also received special attention. The program has built nearly 1,600 km of irrigation and drainage channels and nearly 8,000 wells or other sources of clean water and 1,220 sanitation units.
This substantial reconstruction effort in Aceh and Nias is widely considered to be a success and has attracted global attention. The program ascribed its notably strong success to a unique, highly collaborative approach amongst stakeholders and Government of Indonesia’s strong leadership and coordinating role.

“The partnerships created by the MDF have played a key role in the strong performance of the MDF program and the robust results achieved, most notably in harmonizing donor efforts and bringing together stakeholders from various levels of government, donors, communities and civil society, ” said T. Said Mustafa, 2nd Assistant to the Governor of Aceh. “This program has truly raised the standards for results through partnerships and sets an example for any future recovery and reconstruction programs that intend to create lasting impacts beyond its program years.”

The Head of Operations of the European Union, Erik Habers, stated, “We are proud to be part of this partnership. The experience of MDF highlights the importance of pursuing a shared agenda through joint implementation and ensuring that the reconstruction conducted by the program is in line with government priorities.” The European Union is the MDF largest donor with contributions amounting to US$271.3 or 41% of total grant.

The MDF has fully allocated available funds to its portfolio of 23 projects. US$645 million or 99 percent of contributions have been allocated as of September 30, 2011. Most of the allocated funds have been disbursed to projects and will be spent on project implementation during 2012.

As a critical program entering its last year of implementation, emphasis is now on developing exit strategies, transferring reconstruction assets, promoting sustainability, and documenting lessons learned for future responses.

“We have put in place sustainable systems in governance, management, and service delivery in order to maintain the impacts of the MDF beyond its closure. As such, the MDF has prioritized mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and sustainable management of the environment in the development agendas of Aceh and Nias, leaving behind skills for building safer infrastructure and more resilient communities,” said Shamima Khan, Manager of the MDF.

Physical construction is nearing completion, and the last set of projects focus on capacity building, economic development and key infrastructure to support economic growth. Transferring assets created under the MDF to local governments and beneficiaries will be critical as projects close, so that the benefits of reconstruction are secured for the future.

Ms. Khan concluded, “We are pleased with the strong commitment of our stakeholders to work together to ensure successful implementation and achievements of the MDF. We are keen that this partnership remains strong as we enter our final year of mandate, and we are confident that stakeholders will continue to support the continued economic growth and development of Aceh and Nias into the future.”

About MDF:

Multi Donor Fund (MDF) pools approximately US$655 million in grant funds provided by 15 donors to support implementation of the government’s rehabilitation and reconstruction agenda. This amount is equivalent to approximately 10% of the overall reconstruction effort for Aceh and Nias. At the request of the Indonesian Government, World Bank acts as trustee responsible for managing the MDF. MDF donors consist of the European Union, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the World Bank, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Canada, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the United States of America, Belgium, Finland, New Zealand and Ireland. The MDF works in six outcome areas: recovery of communities, large infrastructure and transport, strengthening governance, sustaining the environment, and enhancing recovery and economic development. The MDF program will come to a close in December 2012.

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