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Conflict Prevention Initiative Website - Conference Series
Addressing the sources of insecurity in Indonesia
May 2001
The Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research is a new research and policy program based at Harvard University. The Program is engaged in research and advisory services on conflict prevention strategies, the management of humanitarian crises and the protection of civilians in conflict areas. The Program advises international organizations, governments and non-governmental actors and focuses on the protection of vulnerable groups, conflict prevention strategies, and the role of information technology in emergency response.
A key project of the Program is the Conflict Prevention Initiative website interface on conflict prevention and crisis management developed in partnership with the UN Executive Office of the Secretary General and the UN Department of Political Affairs. This website provides an interactive virtual platform for policy and decision makers to gain access to information and academic resources, integrated linking systems, and on-line discussions forums.
The website also supports a new online conferencing facility. Every three months, the Conflict Prevention Initiative team chooses a topic or country, and convenes a group of academics and practitioners from all around the world to join an exchange on that issue. The conference takes place on the Internet, with background documents provided by the Initiative, and written comments published from the participants. The topic chosen for May 2001 is “Addressing the Sources of Insecurity in Indonesia”.
Aims
I. Web Portal on Indonesia
The Conflict Prevention Initiative will host a website portal on Indonesia starting mid-May 2001 for an initial period of 6 months. The aims of the portal are:
- To offer easy access to critical information on the sources of political instability and human insecurity in Indonesia
- To create a network of experts and policy makers to share information and analysis on the ongoing security situation; and
- To lay the groundwork for the development of an online conference.
The portal will offer:
A searchable database of reference materials, including articles and journals on the situation in Indonesia;
A searchable database of links to international organizations, government departments, NGOs, political parties and academic centers involved in Indonesia;
Easy access to essential legal and political documents on the current situation in Indonesia;
An interactive map annotated with information on regions at risk; and
Interactive areas where users can request and share information, links and analysis.
The intended audience of the portal includes decision-makers from the UN, governmental entities and civil society organizations who are involved in local, national and international responses to instability in Indonesia. Access to the portal will be free, once users have registered on the portal website. The users will have unlimited use of the database, the ability to request additional information and documents from the Harvard research team, and the opportunity to participate in or audit web conferences.
II. Web Conference on Addressing the Sources of Insecurity in Indonesia
The Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research will convene a web-based conference on the situation in Indonesia from the 5th to the 14th of June. The aims of the conference are to:
- Exchange information and analysis on the sources of insecurity in Indonesia, including structural factors and the role of social, economic and political agents in promoting or exacerbating that instability;
- Establish a network of leading academics, governmental and non-governmental policy makers, political parties and movements and local NGOs to discuss the political, social and economic dimensions of the conflict in Indonesia;
- Identify the threats to stability that should be addressed by the international community, the Indonesian government and civil society; and
- Develop strategies and policy recommendations to address these threats and to build alliances between the affected parties.
Enhancing communication between government, military, private sector and civil society actors in Indonesia could reduce human insecurity by helping to promote democratization and to build economic stability in the region.
Background
With over 210 million people, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country. Today the country faces massive social, political and economic challenges. In the wake of the devastating Asian financial crisis of 1997, and the collapse of the 32-year Suharto regime in 1998, many Indonesians hoped for a future free from corruption and repression. Elections in 1999 brought to power a government under Abdurrahman Wahid that has relinquished state control of the media and has sought to address many of the country’s serious problems of governance. Yet despite these and other encouraging developments, the country faces worsening political, economic, ethnic and religious tensions that have repeatedly led to bloodshed.
The Wahid government is currently facing a crisis of credibility that leaves it unable to exercise effective control over the military, the parliament, or economic actors, all of whom are seeking to maintain their respective power and influence. Even if Wahid is replaced by the popular Vice-President Megawati, the government will continue to face tremendous obstacles. Though the economy expanded at a growth rate of nearly 4 percent in 2000, it needs major reform if it is ever to realize its vast potential.
In this same period, latent ethnic and religious tensions have erupted into violence in many parts of the archipelago and show few signs of abating. Following the independence of East Timor last year, separatists in the province of Aceh launched a new armed uprising aimed at achieving independence. In Irian Jaya (recently renamed West Papua), separatist activists also challenge Indonesian rule. In the Molucca Islands, fighting between Christians and Muslims has led to more than 4,000 deaths since January 1999.
In addition to economic, political, ethnic and religious tensions, the sprawling archipelago experiences some 7,000 earthquakes a year. Large-scale and unsustainable logging operations have created environmental disaster areas in much of the country and destroyed the habitat and livelihoods of indigenous peoples throughout the archipelago.
Implementation
The portal and its conference will be hosted on the Conflict Prevention Initiative website of the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University. The Program will support the conference by coordinating and editing inputs from experts from around the world and by providing links (at www.preventconflict.org/portal) to a diverse array of background documents and academic articles on the history and sources of instability.
After consulting with key partners and a number of organizations and individuals active in the field, the Program at Harvard will select 75-100 participants at the local, regional and international level from the academic and policy communities to take part in the event. Members of the Harvard team will meet potential participants, and offer training where appropriate to enhance the online conference. Only participants chosen through this process will be able to submit their comments for publication on the conference website.
The participants will retain the option of remaining anonymous. Each participant will be allocated a unique username and password. At the beginning of the conference, the Harvard Program will select key articles of particular interest to serve as a common departure point for the conference and to spark debate on the issues. A number of specific policy questions will be posed - including questions relating to the future roles of international actors and donors.
The conference will proceed with the participants submitting their comments to the Harvard team for posting on the website, via the website or email. The Program will moderate the discussion and may choose to divide the conference into a number of subsections as it proceeds. To the extent possible this will be done without compromising the multidisciplinary aspect of the conference.
At the end of the conference, a conference report, including a list of the participants, will be produced by the Harvard Program and translated into Bahasa Indonesia, which will be widely distributed among organizations working in this area. It is hoped that this document will be a useful input into the policy process.
For more information, please contact:
Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research
1033 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: (617) 496 8640
Fax: (617) 3845908
Director: Claude Bruderlein, cbruderl@hsph.harvard.edu
Project Manager: Judy Stone, jstone@hsph.harvard.edu
Research Coordinator: Julie Fossler, jfossler@hsph.harvard.edu
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