Delivering assistance to conflict-affected communities : the BRA-KDP Program in Aceh

The Community based Reintegration Assistance for Conflict Victims (or BRA-KDP) channeled over US$ 20 million to 1,724 conflict affected villages across 67 sub districts in 17 districts from August 2006 to August 2007. The program was designed and implemented after earlier attempts by the Aceh Peace Reintegration Agency (BRA) to apply an individual proposal based system to identify and assist conflict victims proved unsuccessful, and an alternative mechanism was needed. BRA, with technical assistance from the World Bank, adapted the community based block grant mechanism utilized by the Government of Indonesia's Kecamatan Development Program (KDP) to empower communities to decide who is a victim and what kind of assistance victims would receive. All villages within the targeted sub-districts received block grants ranging from Rp. 60 million (US$ 6,000) to Rp. 170 million (US$ 17,000) depending on the intensity of past conflict in the sub-district and the village population size. The primary objective of BRA-KDP was to improve the living conditions of conflict-affected communities and conflict victims by delivering development assistance tailored to local needs.