IRD Dedicates New Country Office
On December 18, the staff of IRD Indonesia welcomed nearly 100 visitors to their new office in central Jakarta for an open house marking the dedication of their new Country Office.

After nearly 10 years working from its office at Jalan Ampera Raya in Kemang, south Jakarta, the IRD representative office for Indonesia has moved to the Intiland Building in Jakarta’s Central Business District. The country office is co-located with the IRD-implemented and USAID-funded SERASI project, who had been occupying a temporary space in the Intiland building since mid-2008. The new location puts IRD in the center of Jakarta, much closer to USAID, other donors, partners, and the business community.

“We are thrilled with the new location and the new space,” said IRD Country Director, James Grall. We have less space than the old office, but it’s fresh and new and looks very professional. We are also much closer to USAID and other people we work with, so we’ve reduced a lot of time spent in Jakarta traffic.”

Special guest in attendance included USAID Mission Director Walter North, and Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for People’s Welfare (KESRA), Pak Soesilo Indroyono, who both offered remarks and assisted Mr. Grall and SERASI Chief of Party, Kim DeRidder, in cutting the ceremonial floral ribbon officially opening the new office.  KESRA is the counterpart Ministry of the Government of Indonesia for IRD and holds the Memorandum of Understanding enabling IRD to operate in Indonesia.

IRD also used the open house to unveil its new “IRD - 10 Years in Indonesia Logo.” In 2008, IRD global celebrated its 10th anniversary, and in 2009, IRD Indonesia marks 10 years of continuous operations in country. It is no mistake - IRD has been operating here since its infancy. As an organization, IRD has a long history of working throughout the country:  Tsunami relief programs with UNICEF and OTI and OFDA, Food Security Programs with USDA, Education programs with USAID, and a host of other programs with other bi and multilateral, as well as private donors.  “IRD's roots are in Indonesia as much as they are in our headquarters in Arlington, VA,” stated Country Director James Grall in his opening remarks. “We are committed to our tagline of "Improving Lives, Building Livelihoods" in Indonesia, and look forward to another 10 years of doing just that.”