Community Organization and Solidarity in the Face of Adversity
Community solidarity, unity, and organization made it possible to protect millions of people during the pandemic in Indonesia, the world’s largest island nation.
Community solidarity, unity, and organization made it possible to protect millions of people during the pandemic in Indonesia, the world’s largest island nation.
The Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (AMAN) works locally, nationally, and internationally to advocate for the Indigenous peoples of Indonesia; it represents more than 2350 communities, totaling 21 million individual members.
Stretching from Sumatra in Asia to the western part of New Guinea in Oceania, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic state. Despite these geographical conditions, AMAN was able to support and accompany its member communities during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing clear guidelines, when the Indonesian State was unable to respond effectively.
As per the General Secretary’s instructions, and as we did not know when the COVID pandemic would end, all Indigenous communities were instructed to ensure the availability of food for a period of between 3 and 6 months, as food sovereignty would ensure availability in case the pandemic persisted.
Community vegetable garden. Rongkong, South Sulawesi Island
AMAN leadership’s strategic approach traced clear action plans that were carried out in communities far and wide, protecting the lives and well-being of millions during the hardships of the global health emergency.
From the moment the pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization in March 2020, AMAN’s Secretary General instructed all its regional and local chapters, organisations, and groups to carry out a total lockdown in Indigenous territories.
Eustobio Rero, Deputy for Organisational Affairs at AMAN, remembers how the announcement of the pandemic came just before the organisation’s annual general meeting was set to take place in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara:
It was only one day before the meeting, and we decided to postpone the event, even though all the regional and local executive bodies were already on their way to attend. Some of the participants for the meeting were already in airports or in transit, but we decided to cancel the meeting to prevent the spread of COVID to the communities.
Additional immediate measures taken by AMAN’s executive bodies included an instruction to increase the production of rice and other staple foods, the distribution of masks and personal protective equipment for medics and primary healthcare staff, as well as coordinating with health agencies, hospitals, and the health services located within the communities.
AMAN’s self-determined emergency response was crucial to safeguarding the communities because the Indonesian government’s public policies came in late, during May and June 2020, when the COVID-19 virus had already spread throughout Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, and other regions of the fourth most populated country in the world.
By November 2021, the Delta variant of COVID-19 had spread in over 179 countries. Many Indigenous peoples in Indonesia fell ill in the communities, and AMAN had to implement even more measures to counter the effects of the pandemic.
Vaccination campaigns were completed with the support of the Indonesian Ministry of Health.
The work of thousands of AMAN members made it possible to implement a general lockdown in the communities, establish quarantine spots, and increase agricultural production. This was all possible because AMAN established 108 Emergency Response Units at the community level.
The Emergency Response Units, known as AMANKan, were led by women and young people who worked tirelessly to implement the lockdown, to ensure a dignified quarantine was possible for those returning to the villages from the cities, to organise rituals and traditional healing practices, and to ensure that the instruction to increase food production was followed.
Documentation of the AMANKan emergency response, photos provided by AMANKan teams in communities all across Indonesia.
Annas Radin, Deputy of Empowerment and Community Service at AMAN was tasked with the coordination of AMANKan. He explains how the instruction to produce more food in the territories became a major accomplishment of the emergency response, as it resulted in a surplus that allowed AMAN to re-distribute the goods to allied organisations and people in need in the cities. By increasing their agricultural production, AMAN member communities contributed greatly to the well-being of millions of people.
Beyond the social and economic advantages that producing their food brought to the Indigenous communities, AMAN’s emergency response also took into consideration aspects related to people’s well-being. As Annas recalls:
This simple but effective method provided a way to deter the spread of COVID-19 to the villages and ensured that those who fell ill would have a safe recovery. However, when the Delta variant of COVID-19 started to spread, stronger policies had to be enforced to keep the crisis at bay and out of the villages.
The efforts that people in the communities made to protect their villages – caring for the sick, and increasing agricultural production – were carried out by women and young people, who worked tirelessly.
Working with a common interest and supporting each other, the communities managed much more than survival: their work provided nutritious food to thousands of people in the cities of Indonesia, where the effects of the pandemic hit hardest.
Since its creation in 1999, AMAN has developed a strong organisational structure that oversees areas such as management and operational affairs, mobilisation of resources, community support and services, economic development, management of natural resources, and education and cultural affairs. The decisions taken by the Secretary General and their Deputies at the very start of the pandemic proved effective in protecting people in the territories.
AMAN fights for the recognition and protection of Indigenous peoples’ rights in Indonesia. Self-determined measures carried out at all levels, from the communities to the national executive body, were possible thanks to its strong organisational structure. Enforcing Indigenous peoples’ rights is not only a solution to the current climate crisis – it represents a means to guarantee the enduring presence of their vast knowledge and cultural heritage for the collective benefit of humanity.
Stories of Resilience is a Global Alliance of Territorial Communities and TINTA (The Invisible Thread) project for the documentation and visibility of cases that show the adaptability, strength, and unity of people and communities in the face of COVID-19 in the Latin American, Asian, and African territories that make up the Alliance.