Promoting Peace and Development in Aceh: SERASI Achievements

The SERASI post-conflict peacebuilding and governance project (http://www.serasi-ird.org) is the largest USAID-funded peacebuilding program in Southeast Asia. SERASI’s first three years (2008-11) served as a strategic small grants and technical assistance mechanism for civil society organizations and communities to mitigate social conflict and relieve tensions in five post-conflict provinces suffering high rates of poverty, inequality and communal violence (Aceh, Central Sulawesi, Maluku, North Maluku, and Papua).

The project began in February 2008. From an initial amount of USD 1 million awarded in the first year of operations, SERASI has now awarded 229 grants worth USD 16.8 million.   Although the SERASI project continues in Eastern Indonesia, its Aceh programming has come to an end. SERASI provided 116 small grants totaling USD 8,386,064 to 74 of Aceh’s civil society organizations, universities, and research groups, whose 116 high-impact projects have addressed a multitude of concerns in conflict-affected areas of the province, with a special focus in Aceh’s east coast (Pidie, Pidie Jaya, Bireuen, Aceh Utara, Bener Meriah, and Aceh Timur).

Projects included: livelihoods security, participatory and conflictsensitive development planning, youth and arts, psychosocial support and trauma healing, conflict resolution and mediation, and a variety of other contextually specific interventions that addressed community needs. The activities of SERASI grantees in Aceh provided immediate ‘peace dividends’ in conflict-affected communities and promoted peacebuilding between contentious communities. SERASI reinforced self-reliance within communities and rebuilt trust and confidence between target communities and local governments.  

This report serves as a record of what has been achieved and what remains to be achieved to safeguard peace and ensure equitable development in the province.