Urban slums are quickly becoming one of the great development challenges of the 21st century. According to the United Nations, a greater percentage of people around the world live in urban areas than in rural areas and one in three of those urban dwellers live in slums. Indonesia itself is home to 21 million slum dwellers, five million four hundred thousand of which live in cramped, make-shift homes in Jakarta on only a few dollars per day. Due to lack of clean water and proper sanitation, diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, cholera and acute respiratory infection run rampant and are exacerbated by the city's humid climate and heavy rains. Income opportunities, health care and education remain scarce. Women suffer an especially large burden due to deeply ingrained gender discrimination in Indonesian society. Prostitution and human trafficking continue largely unchecked. .

[1] Mercy Corps, “Urban Poverty Reduction Strategy,” [http://indonesia.mercycorps.org/?show=work].

Recycled Plactis Bags

In an effort to reduce waste and promote environmental sustainability, the women of Melati 12 collect plastic coffee sachets and detergent packets to weave bright and colorful bags and accessories. By washing, cutting, sewing, embroidering and weaving, the women turn what would otherwise be trash into beautiful new designs. 

Region: Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean 

Capital: Jakarta

Population: 245,613,043 (July 2011 est.)

Size: slightly less than three times the size of Texas

Independence: 17 August 1945 (declared, from the Netherlands); 27 December 1949 (recognized by the Netherlands)

Currency:  Rupiah

Language: Bahasa Indonesia (official, modified form of Malay), English, Dutch, local dialects (the most widely spoken of which is Javanese)

Literacy Rate: Total population:  92%; male: 94%; female: 86.8% (2008)

School Life Expectancy: 13 years (2009)

Primary School Enrollment Rate: 95% (2009)

Life Expectancy:  71.33

Infant Mortality Rate: 27.95 deaths/1,000 live births

HIV Prevalence Rate: 0.2% of the population

Poverty Rate: 13.33% of the population lives below the national poverty line (2010)

Extreme Poverty Rate:  52.4% of the population lives on less than $2 per day and 7.5% live on less than $1 per day (2006)

Access to Clean Drinking Water: 80% (2011)

Access to Proper Sanitation: 52% (2011)

Doctor to Patient Ratio:  1 doctors/7,000 patients (2007)

All statistics from CIA World Factbook 2011 & UNDP Human Development

Indonesia is an island nation located in Oceania between Southeast Asia and Australia. Made up of 17,508 separate islands, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country—with roughly 245 million people—and contains the world’s largest Muslim population. Indonesia’s demographic make-up is extremely diverse, comprised of hundreds of ethnic groups and local languages. While some of the country’s citizens are urban cosmopolitans, living with all the modern conveniences of any capital city’s elite, others still live as hunter-gatherers in remote island villages.

Indonesia has witnessed both progress and setbacks in recent years. In 1997 the Asian Financial Crisis hit Indonesia particularly hard, leading to sharp price increases, massive unemployment and rioting. Popular unrest became so severe in 1998 that after 32 years of oppressive and corrupt authoritarian rule, Indonesian President General Suharto was forced to step down. The change in leadership led to a general strengthening of democratic processes, and the country held its first democratic elections in 2004. The post-Suharto years have also brought numerous challenges. The southeastern region of East Timor became the independent nation Timor-Leste in 1999, encouraging many more separatist movements to clamor for self-rule. Militant Islamist groups have also gained currency in Indonesia, some with alleged links to Al Qaeda. The 2002 Bali bombing, which killed over 200 people, brought international attention to this growing problem. The 2004 South Asian tsunami also wrecked havoc on the nation’s infrastructure, causing greater harm to the already struggling economy.  Poverty remains a severe problem, especially in the growing slums of Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta and the nation’s rural villages. In 2005, Indonesia reached a historic peace agreement with armed separatists in Aceh, which led to democratic elections in the area in December 2006. Indonesia continues to face low intensity armed resistance by the separatist Free Papua Movement.