Oxfam GB in Indonesia In Action

It was a bright and sunny morning on Friday, 8th June 2007 when Tata Mustasya, Oxfam Policy & Advocacy officer asked me to join him in a climate change consultation meeting which was held in Yayasan Kehati. 

I thought that was a great idea since climate change is now one of the Oxfam’s main concern. So, I grabbed my things before jumped into a car. As sson as we arrived at Kehati, Mrs. Anida, the Kehati’s programme director greeted us. Once we enter the room, we saw many familiar faces.  They were our colleagues from national and international CSOs.  I took this opportunity to go around and being friendly to everyone.

Tata was responsible to be the facilitator of this meeting. Mrs. Anida of Kehati explained the position of CSO forum which was formed last May 2007. Ari Margiono, Oxfam’s Media, Advocacy & Communication Manager presented the position of Oxfam in connection with climate change issues. Other CSO members were also given the time to explained each position and their expectation toward Oxfam.

In this consultation, Indonesian CSO Forum and Oxfam agreed to keep communicating and to share information and knowledge on climate change issues in preparation toward United Nations Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties 13 (UNFCCC COP 13) in Bali, 3-14 December 2007.

 It was also decided that further collaboration and resource sharing are potential once Indonesian CSO Forum and Oxfam have clearly defined their positions on the COP 13, particularly regarding issues on the impacts of climate change to the most vulnerable ones.

At the end of this consultation, Tata approached me and said that he was happy because the meeting went well and Indonesian CSO forum was being really supportive and keen to share their bright ideas regarding climate change.

This forum was also attended by our colleagues from Oxfam Hong Kong (Lot and Julia) and Oxfam Novib (Sofia).

We waived good bye to everyone and promised one another to meet again in the next consultation meeting. Well, I guess Tata and friends have lot things to do before the UNFCCC COP 13 in Bali. “Good Luck, Mate!”