Hello from Secretariat
UCLG ASPAC Secretariat is glad to welcome new members that share the spirit to support cities and local governments within Asia and the Pacific region.
WIRDA Damanik, or Wirda, is a Project Finance and Admin Coordinator for the CRIC Project. Wirda holds a master’s degree in strategic management from the University of Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. Before joining UCLG ASPAC, Wirda worked for UNDP as a Budget Management Associate of GFATM Project for the Ministry of Health of Indonesia. Wirda also worked for the Eijkman Institute’s project from 2013 to the end of 2022 and held the position of Grant Finance Manager. She has extensive experience in the Finance and Administrative aspect of grants and projects funded by International Donors and Agencies such as CDC – US Federal Fund, EU, BMGF, ADB, Australia Awards and etc for more than 12 years.
Joining UCLG ASPAC, Wirda expects to broaden her experiences in handling grants and projects with international donors particularly project activity that collaborates with cities and local government around Asia and the Pacific. Wirda is a problem solver and a social runner. She loves cooking, traveling, shopping and is also active in social activities.
BIONDI Sima, or Biondi, serves as the national project coordinator for the Urban-Act project in Indonesia, aiming to support transformation towards low-carbon and resilient urban development. Holding double master’s in Economic Policy and Sustainable Development from SciencesPo Paris and Peking University Beijing, Biondi’s passion is to espouse digital, sustainable development, and diplomacy, and to leverage them to narrow inequality and empower youth
His experience includes working with World Bank on accelerating digital transformation in Indonesia and consulting on the intersection between digital transformation and green transition worldwide with the Public Digital network. Biondi also lectures international relations at Hasanuddin University and chairs the digital transformation track at the Y20 Summit, a G20 official engagement group for youth. During the pandemic, Biondi led the implementation of an end-to-end digital system to help manage the pandemic through the West Java Digital Service. His team also rolled out the Digital Village programme that helped expand connectivity and exposed villages to harness the benefit of the digital economy. Born and raised in Palu, Biondi gives back by initiating a platform to improve local talents’ competitiveness and productivity in a disaster-resilient environment, @PaluProduktif.
Biondi’s work has earned national and international recognitions, including Best Team under 35 by GovInsider, IMF-World Bank Young CSO Fellow, Open Government Young Ambassador by UKP4, Best EcoPresenter HiLo Green Leader 2015, Most Inspiring Movement at the New L-Men of The Year 2022.
AGUNG Zulhatta, or Agung, is the Research and Learning Officer. Agung is responsible for the Regional Urban-Act output for product analysis and policy recommendations, regional advocacy in city networks and platforms, networking, and matchmaking with international urban climate finance initiatives, handling learning and knowledge-sharing matters for dissemination activities among UA pilot cities, and providing input on the regional learning framework, including City-to-city knowledge exchange and city pairing.
Prior to joining UCLG ASPAC, Agung worked as a Researcher at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies and Border Management, as well as a Lecturer in International Relations at the Maritime University of Raja Ali Haji, Tanjung Pinang, on Research Methods subject He was also a visiting lecturer at the International University Liaison Indonesia in the Undergraduate Programme in International Relations, Andalas University in the Undergraduate Programme in International Relations and Graduate Programme in Social and Political Sciences, and the Indonesian Defence University in the Doctoral Programme
For more than two years, Agung has developed the #Yourlecture, an Education and Research assistance platform for Final Years Undergraduate, Master, and Doctoral students. Agung is also active in youth
development activities and multiple workshops in the maritime field. Agung holds a master's in Defence Science from the University of Defence Indonesia, majoring in Maritime Security. Besides, Agung has earned several awards, such as Youngest Graduate of the University of Andalas in 2018, Indonesian Maritime Ambassador 2018, Best Graduate in Basic Disaster Management Training 2019 issued by the University of Defence Indonesia and National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB), as well as Speaker at the 2020 Euro-Global Climate Change Conference 2020.