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Indonesia: Helping the Urban Poor                                                                          July 1, 2002
                     The Urban Poverty Project targets urban people who were poor before the financial downturn began
                     but who have since suffered from decreased incomes due to high inflation or the loss of income. The
                     project focuses in mainly in northern Java, where most of the dense urban areas and urban poor are
                     located. Since the project began in June 1999, around 60,000 community self help groups have
                     benefited, mainly in through microcredit/small-scale business projects and also infrastructure. According
                     to records, the money lent out is being repaid at rates of over 90 percent in most cases, an
                     unprecedented repayment rate when compared to other credit programs in the country. The project
which operates through community self help groups, encourages broad participation of community members in decision
making about proposals and priority projects. UPP places a high degree of trust in communities and allows them to manage
funds and decide on resource allocation. This transparent process has helped reduce corruption practices.

Updated: July 2002