POLICY DISCUSSION WEBINAR 2 – BORDER AREA 28 APRIL 2020

Following up on the results of the Policy Discussion previously held by Article 33 Indonesia together with the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture on 31 January, 28 April 2020 a Policy Discussion session 2 was held with the main discussion being to finalize the draft "Guidelines for Strengthening the Role of Districts in Priority Locations in Border Areas" . This policy discussion was also led by Mr. Wijanarko Setiawan as Assistant Deputy for Strategic and Special Area Empowerment of the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture, and was attended by most of the Deputies and Divisions from the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture.

Different from Policy Discussion 1, this discussion was held online because current conditions do not allow for face-to-face activities. In general, the discussion topics carried out in the Policy Discussion are (1) Brief presentation of the final results of the study on strengthening the role of Districts in the Lokpri Border Area area; (2) Finalize the draft Guidelines which accommodate input from Policy Discussion 1 and several Policy Discussions at the regional level; (3) A brief discussion of the economic conditions at the study location during the COVID-19 outbreak. Some important notes on the results of the Policy Discussion that have been carried out are as follows:

1. 1. Policy Discussion participants in general and resource persons specifically stated that the results of the final study on developing the role of Districts in Border Areas really helped policy makers to see the real conditions regarding the need to increase the role of Districts in terms of coordination and synchronization in order to accelerate the reduction of regional isolation and improve welfare, especially for Districts in Border area.
   2. Even though the draft Guidelines do not specifically provide new regulations on how sub-district and sub-district heads carry out their duties, the contents of the guidelines are able to contribute in providing direction to sub-district and sub-district heads to increase their role so that they can bring their regions out of isolation and improve welfare more massively.
   3. Regarding the current conditions in the two study locations, through direct contact with the sub-district head and BNPD, both regions assessed that their economies had been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. As is the case in Serdang Bedagai Regency, North Sumatra Province, they stated that currently only a few fishermen are still going to sea so that economic activity has greatly decreased. From North Central Timor Regency (TTU), which directly borders Timor Leste, they stated that Timor Leste had closed their border route with TTU. Apart from that, trading activities in the market also decreased drastically.