The Covid-19 Pandemic and Human Rights-Based Approach to Local Governance in Desa Pakam, Batu Bara, North Sumatra

The subsidiarity principle in conducting local governance system in desa (village) has been adopted by Law No. 6 of
2014 concerning Desa. The law recognizes that Desa has the scale of local authorities and decisions to fully realize the
villagers interests. However, in the situation of covid-19 pandemic concerns, Indonesian national government has been
striving to prevent and overcome the pandemic and also enacted the emergency policies including economic and legal
policies. In addition, for local governments including village must create and re-arrange the prioritized programs to be
done effectively. This article examines the capacity of local government of Desa Pakam, Batu Bara, North Sumatra in
conducting human rights-based approach to development (HRBA) during the pandemic. This article uses the legal
research method and adopts normative juridical approach. Collecting data is gained by the secondary data, namely
regulations, textbooks and journals. Beside it, data also obtained by interview with focused group discussion in the field.
By using a conceptual framework of HRBA, this article analyses on the strategical ways in the implementation of the
prioritized programs related to strengthen the resilience of villagers especially for disadvantage and vulnerable groups
who are fully affected by pandemic. Actually, HRBA could improve the resilience for villagers and make
comprehensive social protection according to human rights standards and mechanisms.