SOCIAL SECURITY PROGRAM SEEKS TO ADDRESS POVERTY CHALLENGE by Fardah

 Jakarta, 19/2/2021 (ANTARA) - The COVID-19 pandemic, which has triggered a global economic crisis, is posing a real challenge to many countries, including Indonesia, in their efforts to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of ending poverty by 2030.

Owing to the pandemics impact on the economy, global poverty could increase for the first time since 1990, representing a reversal of approximately a decade of global progress in reducing poverty, according to a study by the United Nations University UNU Wider.

The World Bank, in its Poverty and Shared Prosperity Report, published in October, 2020, confirmed that the poverty reduction progress has slowed down owing to the impact of COVID-19.

The pandemic is estimated to push an additional 88 million out of 115 million people into extreme poverty in 2020, with the total rising to as many as 150 million this year, depending on the severity of the economic contraction, according to the report.

The pandemic and global recession may cause over 1.4 percent of the worlds population to fall into extreme poverty, World Bank group president David Malpass said.

Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin recently pointed out that an increase in the poverty rate and a wider social gap were among the earliest-to-surface impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He highlighted the numerous measures taken by the government through the COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery Program (PEN) to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on poverty and vulnerability.

In fact, the government has claimed that PEN, especially social protection, in 2020, rescued over five million people from poverty amid the pandemic.

"This means that the PEN program throughout 2020 is believed to have rescued more than five million people from becoming the new poor," chief of the fiscal policy board at the Finance Ministry, Febrio Nathan Kacaribu, said on February 16, 2021.

Active generosity should be reflected in anti-poverty efforts by Fardah

Jakarta , Nov 22, 2019 (ANTARA) - Over 74 years after it gained independence, Indonesia continues to face the challenge of poverty inflicting several million of its populace despite a continued drop through the years.
The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) in 2018 revealed that the poverty rate in Indonesia had dropped to the lowest as compared to the ratios in the earlier periods.
The number of people living below the poverty line dropped to 25.95 million, or 9.82 percent of the population in March 2018, from 27.77 million, or 10.64 percent of the population, a year earlier.
BPS head Suhariyanto had told reporters in Jakarta on July 16, 2018, that nationally, the number of people categorized as poor in March 2018 had decreased 1.82 million from a year earlier.
The success achieved in reducing the poverty rate was attributable to all priority programs of the government, such as infrastructure development for better connectivity; village funds; improvement in logistics distribution; and several social allowances for health, family welfare, and education.
However, despite the success, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has reminded citizens that alleviating poverty and reducing the social gap remained persistent challenges and homework that necessitated all-encompassing efforts.
Speaking on National Heroes Day themed “I am a Hero of the Present” and observed on Nov 10, 2019, Jokowi called for heroic figures keen to fight poverty, ignorance, and inequality.
During the post-independence era, the nation requires to continue its struggle, but this time it is to combat poverty, ignorance, backwardness, and inequality, Jokowi stated.
The president remarked that despite Indonesia having successfully reduced its poverty rate to a historical low of 9.66 percent in 2018, from 10.96 percent in 2014, the government had yet to revel in this achievement.
"We are not satisfied with it. We yet have to accomplish several things, while on the hand, we are facing a shortage of time. We only have 11 years left to achieve the target of SDGs," he remarked.
The president is targeting to reduce the poverty rate to below nine percent.
"He (the president) has ordered that the poverty rate be cut further to below nine percent," new Social Affairs Minister Juliari Peter Batubara had stated in October 2019.
The new minister remains resolved to attain the target in spite of the challenges of the globalization era.
"This is not easy, but it would be a record if we manage to suppress the national poverty line to below nine percent," he stated.
The PDIP politician is upbeat about achieving the target, which is the lowest ever.
The target is also in tune with the government's programs to boost the development of human resources and to create more job opportunities as well as to increase economic growth.
"I think we in the cabinet must ensure that our programs are in line with the president's vision and mission," he remarked.
Related news: Poverty remains major problem in Indonesia: ACT chief
The government’s intervention is indeed deemed necessary to help lower the poverty rate.
However, Ahyuddin, chairman of the advisory board of ACT (Swift Response and Action), expressed belief that generosity can help eradicate poverty that remains a glaring problem in Indonesia.
"Poverty is a humanitarian affair. Humanitarian action does not only concern natural disasters or people being displaced due to conflict or war," he remarked in Bandung, West Java, on Nov 21, 2019, following the launch of the Humanity Rice Truck expedition program.
The ACT focuses on humanitarianism, generosity, and volunteerism to aid in addressing the country's problems concerning poverty.
"I believe that however grave the problem of poverty is, it could be solved if this nation becomes a generous one," he stated.
He called on more Indonesians to become volunteers in dealing with humanitarian problems.
To deal with poverty, the ACT focuses on providing food, such as rice, for the poor. He proposed a program called "Rice for Indonesian mothers."
This is since it is the mothers that harbor the deepest concerns when their families have no food to eat.
The ACT provides 250 tons of rice monthly for the poor. It means the humanitarian NGO distributes rice to two thousand families daily, or 50 thousand families monthly.
By 2020, the ACT is upbeat about providing rice to 500 thousand families across Indonesia with donations from the public.

POVERTY REMAINS CHALLENGE FOR INDONESIA by Fardah

  Jakarta, July 21, 2018 (Antara) -The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) recently spread the good news that the poverty rate in Indonesia has dropped to the lowest compared to the ratios in the earlier periods. 
       The number of people living below the poverty line has dropped to 25.95 million, or 9.82 percent of the population, in March 2018 from 27.77 million, or 10.64 percent of the population, a year earlier.

         BPS head Suhariyanto told reporters in Jakarta on July 16, 2018, that nationally, the number of people categorized as poor in March 2018 dropped 1.82 million from a year earlier.

         The success in the drop in poverty rate was thanks to all priority programs of the government, such as infrastructure development for better connectivity; village funds; improvement in logistics distribution; and several social allowances for health, family welfare, and education, among others.

        Social Affairs Minister Idrus Marham lauded the achievement and was convinced that it was due to the successful government programs.

         "It indicates that the government programs, such as KIP (Indonesian Smart Card (KIP), Indonesia¿s Health Card (KIS), Family Hope Program, Joint Business Group (Kube), and social insurances (BPJS), have worked,¿ the minister remarked.

          He is optimistic that the poverty rate will decrease further to nine percent, lower than the poverty reduction target set by the President Joko Widodo Administration, which is at one digit, by the end of his administration.

         However, despite the success, Widodo reminded the citizens that poverty reduction and social gap cut are still challenges and homework that need to be dealt with.

        "Again, I reiterate that social gap and poverty remain our common challenges,¿ he added.

         The head of state expressed concern over the social gap and wealth disparity between western and eastern Indonesian regions.

         He believed that infrastructure development could become a solution to inequality between the country¿s eastern and western regions.

          "Infrastructure is crucial, and once again it is not merely related to economic matters. As a huge country with 17 thousand islands, Indonesia needs seaports, airports, and roads, including toll roads. We can deliver unity and equality from west until east and from north until south," he explained.  
      Basically, the percentage of people living in poverty in the eastern part of Indonesia in March 2018 was still higher than that of the western part.

             "It (the poverty rate) mostly fell, but it remains a major homework in the eastern part of Indonesia, as the percentage of its poor people is far higher than that of the western part," BPS Chief Suhariyanto pointed out.

            Sharing the president¿s view, Suhariyanto believed that several infrastructure projects being implemented in the eastern part of Indonesia would help reduce the number of people living in poverty there.

          Meanwhile, National Development Planning Minister, who is concurrently the Head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), Bambang Brodjonegoro, emphasized the importance of manageable inflation to reduce the poverty rate.

         "The key factor to reducing the poverty rate is the government's intervention. However, there is still one important aspect needed to manage the inflation rate. It is not 100 percent dependent on the government, but there are several factors involved," Brodjonegoro explained.

        He remarked that a high inflation rate will make the increase in income worthless.

            "Hence, it is crucial for us to maintain the inflation rate," he explained.

            According to data of the Central Statistic Agency (BPS), food commodities that have a significant impact on the poverty rate in rural and urban areas are rice, cigarettes, eggs, chicken, instant noodles, and sugar.

            Non-edible commodities that have a significant impact on the poverty rate are housing, fuel oil, electricity, education, and toiletries.

            "Rice has a 27 percent contribution (to the poverty rate). It means that the price of rice should not be increased," the minister stated.

            Cigarettes have a 10.21 percent impact on the poverty rate. Any increase in the price of the commodity would have a significant impact on the poverty rate.

            "However, it does not mean that we could not increase the price of cigarettes. Their consumption must be reduced," he noted.

            The impact of cigarettes on the poverty rate is higher than those of the housing sector, fuel oil, sugar, instant noodles, chicken, and eggs.

           "It is a big task to create public awareness in Indonesia, in order to reduce (cigarette) consumption, which is not only unproductive but also unhealthy," Brodjonegoro noted here on Thursday.

            He elaborated that if smokers would spend money to buy cigarettes, they would have to spend more money for tobacco-related health problems in the longer term.

            "The national health insurance (the healthcare BPJS) would also become another victim. The more the money people spend on cigarettes, the more funds BPJS would have to spend for their healthcare costs," the minister explained.

            According to Brodjonegoro, one concrete move to reduce cigarette consumption is to increase its price. ***4***
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INDONESIA MANAGES TO LOWER POVERTY RATE by Fardah

Jakarta, July 17, 2018 (Antara) - The Indonesian government has prioritized programs on reducing the poverty rate, and the efforts seem to have yielded positive results.

         The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) revealed that the number of people living below the poverty line had dropped to 25.95 million, or 9.82 percent of the population in March 2018, from 27.77  million, or 10.64 percent of the population a year earlier.

         "The poverty ratio (in March 2018) was the lowest in comparison with the ratios in the earlier periods," BPS Head Suhariyanto informed reporters in Jakarta on July 16, 2018.

         Across Indonesia, the number of people categorized as poor in March 2018 had dropped to 1.82 million from that recorded a year earlier.

         In urban areas, the number of poor in urban areas in March 2018 totaled 10.14 million people, or 7.02 percent, and in rural areas, 15.81 million, or 13.2 percent.

         In March 2017, the number of poor people in urban areas had reached 10.67 million, or 7.72 percent, while in urban areas, the figure totaled 17.1 million, or 13.93 percent.

         Food commodities having a major impact on poverty in urban and rural areas are rice, cigarettes, eggs, instant noodles, and refined sugar, while non-food commodities include housing, gasoline, electricity, education, and toiletry.  
    At the regional level, the lowest poverty rate was recorded in Kalimantan, at 6.09 percent, totaling 982,300 people.

         The number of poor in Java reached 13.34 million, followed by Sumatra, 5.9 million; and Sulawesi, two million.

GOVERNMENT TO SYNERGIZE DATA ON POVERTY by Fardah

  Jakarta, Feb 6 , 2016(Antara) - Data on poverty is often confusing as it usually comes from various sources and different methods of data collection are applied.

         To address such a problem, an agreement was recently reached during a meeting to create an integrated database to synergize data on poverty handling sourced from various ministries.

         "So, while informing the public about a program, there would no longer be any overlapping or invalid (data)," Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Puan Maharani stated in Jakarta, February 4, 2016, after attending a plenary meeting on poverty reduction efforts chaired by Vice President Jusuf M. Kalla.

         With the presence of a consolidated database, the government plans to integrate its poverty reduction programs, such as the Hopeful Family Program (PKH), the Indonesian Health Card (KIS), the Social Protection Card (KPS), and the Indonesian Smart Card (KIP), with the data available in the electronic identity (e-ID) cards.

         "So, we want to integrate all data to develop a single database, and its usage can help to synergize the existing programs," she explained.

ALL STAKEHOLDERS MUST HELP ADDRESS POVERTY By Fardah

Jakarta, Oct 23, 2012 (ANTARA) - Although no special event was organized during the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on October 17, the government has declared its commitment to reducing the poverty rate.     

    To mark the day themed "Ending the Violence of Extreme Poverty: Promoting Empowerment and Building Peace", representatives of governments and civil society gathered at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to discuss how poverty violates fundamental rights.