Supporting rural infrastructure, education and health care in Indonesia
Noble has a number of operations in Indonesia. We tailor our community engagement to meet local needs and tackle developmental challenges in underprivileged regions. Our long-running initiatives support Indonesia’s priorities in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Improved road access to remote villages
Rural roads play a critical role in connecting people to facilities and services. In Kalimantan, we support ongoing road development in remote villages by providing heavy equipment and embankment materials for road maintenance. This includes improving the structural condition of roads, road resurfacing and repairing potholes. The improvement in the quality of the roads means that they are now accessible to motorised transport and save users a lot of travel time.
In 2018, we supported local infrastructure projects by donating building materials and allowing temporary passage of people and material across our hauling road and port facility.
Bringing healthcare and food aid
Child malnutrition and maternal health are some of the major challenges in the health sector. For most rural children and pregnant women, monthly gatherings with health clinic staff and volunteers in their villages are their primary source of maternal health care, nutrition advice and vaccinations. Our funding has been put towards to multiple service centres in Sorong (Klamono, Klasafet, Malalilis) and Timika.
Mothers and young children attend the monthly clinic to monitor health conditions, obtain vaccinations and nutritional supplements.
In Ipumea village, East Barito, we support a supplementary feeding programme in collaboration with the regional community health service centre. Eggs, milk, rice, chicken porridge, green bean porridge, and bread are provided in this way. Since 2018, we have extended the food aid programme in Sumber Garunggung village. Currently 125 children and 110 elderly persons are benefiting from having extra nutrition in their diets.
Boosting school attendance
According to statistics from the World Bank, net primary school enrolment rates are below 60% in poor districts of Indonesia, while net enrolment rates for secondary education are even lower: below 50%. To increase access to education, we have been providing multiple levels of scholarships to more than 103 villagers within the community, to help keep children in school.
Attendance at school is often hindered by the fact that most children live in remote areas. To facilitate student transportation in West Papua, additional school bus services has now provided with our grant. Sponsorship has been given to schools’ operation and to pay teachers’ wages across 8 schools in Papua and West Papua.
School bus service for students living in remote villages.
