SUMMER SCHOLARS BLOG: Mmafatse Ndlebe
Salam dari Jakarata, Indonesia! (“Greetings”) Saya harap Anda baik-baik saja! (Indonesian version of “I hope you are well’)
Over the summer, I had the opportunity to work with the UNDP Indonesia Accelerator Lab, made possible thanks to the generous support of the UNA-NYC Summer Scholars Program. As I write this, I am wrapping up my in-country work as a Strategic Foresight and Innovative Finance Fellow with the Accelerator Lab in Indonesia. Luckily my fellowship will continue remotely when I return to New York until the end of September. Two months of knowing and exploring this spectacular country have left me with moments of amusement, learning, sheer joy, and gratitude. Allow me to reflect on the journey with you…
Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is the world’s largest archipelagic state consisting of over 17,000 unique islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea, making it known for its beautiful white sandy tropical beaches and surrounding turquoise waters. With that said, I was fascinated by how much the country has to offer, including rich cultural heritage, delicious cuisine, active volcanoes, and biodiversity. A country full of natural beauty.
With around 280 million people, Indonesia is the world’s fourth-most populous country, with the Java Island being home to more than half of the country’s population. The capital city, Jakarta (until August 2024), is the world’s second most populous urban area, and one can attest to this fact when stuck in traffic. Before I get carried away with sharing facts about Indonesia, let me delve into my fellowship.
Commencement of my Fellowship
The 29th of May, 2023, marked the start of my fellowship, which was remote in New York City due to visa delays. A time difference of 11 hours meant joining team calls at 11 pm (Est) on Sunday, which was 10 am (Jkt) Monday morning for the rest of the team. Therefore I was excited when I finally arrived in Indonesia towards the end of June to join the UNDP Indonesia Accelerator Lab team based in Jakarta.
UNDP Accelerator Labs are the world’s largest and fastest learning network on sustainable development challenges, with 91 labs serving 115 countries. They aim to develop and accelerate learning, focusing on the complex challenges each country faces to expedite the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UNDP Indonesia Accelerator Lab’s focus is to address frontier challenges in the context of urban development and urban resilience. The team explores the relationship between ecological crises and inequality in urban environments, particularly water-related issues like flooding. To understand the complexity, UNDP Indonesia Accelerator Lab applies collective intelligence and ethnographic research using immersion, public surveys, and solutions mapping. Through various innovative approaches, reflected in the UNDP Indonesia Accelerator Lab’s blogs on ‘Mapping Urban Ecological Systems,’ ‘Hidden Messages in Water,’ and ‘Grassroots Solutions for Urban Development in Indonesia,’ the team worked together with partners from the government, academia, civil society organizations (CSO), and communities on the ground…
Read and see more from Mmafatse’s blog here
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Our Summer Scholars Blog, a collection of reports from post-grad scholars that UNA-NYC has sponsored globally, showcases our fellows' experiences with UN agencies and non-governmental organizations in the country where they are working. Learn more about our Summer Scholars fellowship program and fellows here.