JAKARTA – The U.S. Agency for International Development, the National Science Foundation, and the National Cancer Institute have announced awards to 12 research projects in Indonesia. The awards are for collaborative research that advances the scientific and technical capacity of both the United States and Indonesia in critical areas of development. Four of the awards are for research pertaining to health; the other eight are for projects related to environmental conservation, climate change mitigation, and disaster risk mitigation.

USAID/Indonesia Acting Mission Director Derrick Brown said, “Collaboration is the foundation of these projects.  The U.S. and Indonesia are addressing some of our greatest development challenges through joint scientific research.”

The four Indonesia health research projects specifically address challenges related to maternal-child health, such as improving hospital care for breastfeeding support, and effects of air pollution on infant and maternal health. The disaster- related projects are intended to prevent or mitigate natural disasters that typically cause massive suffering and loss of life.

The Indonesia projects were among a total of 46 research initiatives to receive awards this week through the joint USAID-National Science Foundation Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement (PEER) program http://sites.nationalacademies.org/pga/dsc/peer/index.htm. The program supports high caliber scientists in developing countries to conduct research in collaboration with U.S. scientists and scientific institutions. The 46 awards total approximately $8.5 million.