Understanding Rural Empowerment

Partnerships between villagers and outsiders are also found in the management of the village funds program, which involves facilitators in village administrations.

KOMPAS/VIDELIS JEMALI

The Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Ministry’s rural area development director general, Ahmad Erani Yustika (wearing batik), checks out the products of a joint business group sold at Pajang House in Sigi, Central Sulawesi, Wednesday (10/1/2018). Since the disbursement of village funds in 2015, residents have been facilitated to develop businesses by utilizing local products.

For a long time, the country’s villages have received a variety of assistance programs that aimed to improve public welfare. These include infrastructure development projects, such as the rural electrification program, and community empowerment programs, such as the TNI Manunggal Masuk Desa (Indonesian Military Entering the Village), which was formerly called the ABRI Masuk Desa program, and the compulsory community work (KKN) program for university students, as well as various corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs conducted by big companies.

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