Whats New? Papua Partners major collaborator in their work is an organisation called Yasumat. The word means Foundation for the Development of Isolated People, whose work and structure can be summarised by their motto: from the people, for the people.
Yasumat has grown a lot since they initiated their partnership with Papua Partners and is encouraging young people to engage in social action for their communities. When we started our work in Papua there were only three Yasumat voluntary staff. We now have a total of 19 staff including those who work at a village level. However, the rapid growth of the organisation poses a huge challenge to manage and fund and we are still only working in a very small area compared to Yasumats mandated work area and the need is huge.
Yasumat Background Yasumat was established in 1995 by local leaders from the region of Yahukimo in the Central Highlands of West Papua.
The aim of Yasumat is to build capacity in local communities of Yahukimo for culturally appropriate development & poverty reduction. Yasumat is currently based in the town of Wamena and their area of focus is the Regency (Kabupaten) of Yahukimo in the Central Highlands, one of the most inaccessible regions of Papua. Yasumat was set up and is governed by the people of Yahukimo through a board and members group.
One of their first activities was to assist local communities suffering from famine as a result of the widespread drought which affected Papua New Guinea and West Papua during 1996-97. The work on famine relief led to a six year health project focusing particularly on women and children's health. Since then, Yasumat's work has expanded and now includes the following areas:-
- Community Health & Food Security - Basic Education & Literacy - Community-based Natural Resource Management - Mobilisation and Empowerment for Community development - Economic development
Papua Partners Limited is registered in England and Wales No, 05539947 Charity Registered No. 1117275
