LOMBOK, 8 SEPTEMBER 2026 – Vice Minister of National Development Planning/Deputy Minister of Bappenas Febrian Alphyanto Ruddyard, UNDP Indonesia Resident Representative Sara Ferrer Olivella and Governor of West Nusa Tenggara Lalu Muhammad Iqbal accompanied UNDP Goodwill Ambassador HRH The Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden on a visit to Lombok on 5–6 September 2026, marking the final leg of The Crown Princess' mission to Indonesia.

The visit offered a glimpse into a broader development challenge facing Indonesia and countries around the world: how to make communities more resilient to shocks while creating opportunities for people and protecting the natural systems on which their economies depend. Across Lombok, this challenge is being addressed through a combination of resilient infrastructure, digital innovation, nature-based livelihoods and new approaches to financing climate and biodiversity action. It also highlighted the longstanding partnership between Indonesia, Sweden and UNDP in advancing inclusive, resilient and sustainable development.

“Your Royal Highness, these two days have offered a snapshot of what development means to us: communities that recover, protect what matters, and move forward together. These values also reflect the principles that have long guided our partnership—from sustainable development to climate resilience and the blue economy—and are closely aligned with our national priorities under Asta Cita,” said Vice Minister Febrian Alphyanto Ruddyard.

Lombok’s experience following the devastating 2018 earthquakes demonstrates that recovery is not only about rebuilding what was lost, but about creating communities that are better prepared for the next shock. At SMK Negeri 1 Pemenang in North Lombok, HRH The Crown Princess saw how earthquake-resistant public infrastructure reconstructed through UNDP’s Programme for Earthquake and Tsunami Infrastructure Reconstruction Assistance (PETRA), funded by KfW, has helped restore essential services while embedding resilience into the communities’ physical foundations.

But resilience also depends on whether people can rebuild their livelihoods and create new economic opportunities. The Goodwill Ambassador’s engagement with local MSMEs at UPTD Bale KITA highlighted the role of entrepreneurship and local economic activity in turning post-disaster recovery into longer-term economic resilience, particularly in communities whose livelihoods depend on natural resources and tourism.

The visit also highlighted how digital transformation can improve access to better health services, from the community level to the frontier of medical science. At  Pemenang Community Health Centre, HRH the Crown Princess learned about SMILE (Electronic Immunization and Logistics Monitoring System), a digital platform developed by UNDP and the Ministry of Health with the support of the Global Fund and GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance. By integrating data on vaccine logistics, the system helps health facilities manage supplies more efficiently and supports more reliable delivery of essential health services.

In Jakarta visit earlier, HRH The Crown Princess also saw Indonesia’s growing capacity in genomic science through the Biomedical & Genome Science Initiative (BGSi), which uses whole genome sequencing to advance precision medicine and disease surveillance. Together, these examples show how digital transformation can operate across the health system: strengthening the everyday delivery of primary health services while also enabling Indonesia to harness cutting-edge science to detect disease threats and develop more targeted approaches to diagnosis and treatment.

In Gili Meno, the delegation explored blue-economy solutions that link marine conservation with livelihoods and innovative finance. Gili Meno is home to one of Indonesia’s first coral reef insurance initiatives. Indonesia is home to approximately 16 percent of the world’s coral reefs, which support fisheries, tourism, food security and coastal protection. Coral reef-based tourism in Gili Matra generates an estimated IDR 9.5 trillion annually, while daily incomes among coastal communities remain below USD 15.

To help address climate-related risks, Bappenas and UNDP have initiated a parametric insurance scheme that can make funding available to coastal communities when sea temperatures rise to levels that put coral reefs at serious risk. The funding can support rapid reef restoration and recovery, while helping local businesses cope with the disruption caused by coral bleaching—the loss of colour and life in corals when they become stressed by unusually warm waters. 

The visit also showcased seaweed cultivation as an example of how economic activity can be designed to work with the marine environment. By providing an alternative livelihood linked to healthy coastal ecosystems, seaweed farming demonstrates the potential for the blue economy to generate income while supporting the resilience of the surrounding marine environment.

On the delegation’s last stop at Bayan, North Lombok, HRH the Crown Princess learned about community-based customary forest management and UNDP’s support for the verification of customary forest areas through the UN-REDD Programme, with support from Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI). Through the awig-awig customary law system, communities protect their forests and maintain generations-old traditions and rituals.

From parametric insurance for coral reefs to emerging opportunities for biodiversity and climate finance, the Lombok experience demonstrates the importance of connecting public policy and finance with private-sector investment and local economic activity. For UNDP, this means helping translate global climate and biodiversity goals into practical mechanisms that can reach communities, de-risk investment and generate tangible benefits for people and nature.

“Having our Goodwill Ambassador, The Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, witness these solutions firsthand is a powerful reminder that resilience is built where people’s lives, livelihoods and the environment come together. In Gili Meno, seaweed cultivation shows what this can look like in practice, creating income while helping sustain the marine ecosystems communities depend on. The opportunity now is to take these locally grounded solutions and connect them to policy, finance and investment, so that what works for one community can create opportunities and resilience at a much greater scale,” said Sara Ferrer Olivella, UNDP Resident Representative in Indonesia.

“I would like to thank the people of Lombok for their warm hospitality throughout this visit, as well as UNDP and all our partners who helped make these two days of activities possible. I am confident that the friendship between our two countries will continue to grow. Together, let us work to protect our forests and culture for generations to come,” Vice Minister Febrian Alphyanto Ruddyard concluded.

***

MEDIA CONTACTS:

• Ardian Budhi Nugroho, Head of the Bureau of Public Relations, Archives and Executive Administration, Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas
• Nabilla Rahmani, Head of Communications, UNDP Indonesia: Nabilla.rahmani@undp.org
• Emilie Andresen, Head of Communications, UNDP Nordic Office: emilie.andresen@undp.org