VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Government's efforts in reducing poverty were conveyed at the 15th Meeting of the Coordinating Body for the Standing Committee on Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation / OIC (COMCEC).

Social Affairs Minister Juliari P Batubara, in a written statement received in Jakarta, Thursday, stated that the Indonesian Delegation supports the recommendation of the research report from the COMCEC research team on urban poverty in Islamic countries.

"Several policy issues and recommendations related to development in the 'slum urban' area applies to conditions in Indonesia," Juliari said.

The efforts to reduce poverty by the Government of Indonesia are recorded in research conducted by the COMCEC team. The report addresses the main challenges of conceptualizing and measuring urban poverty focusing particularly on data collection and the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a tool in monitoring poverty in urban slum areas.

The Indonesian Delegation explained the poverty reduction strategies with various instruments, including one through the conditional cash transfer scheme as the Ministry of Social Affairs continues to encourage. 

The Indonesian delegation was represented by officials from the Ministry of Social Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Head of Planning Bureau Adhy Karyono, as the Indonesian Focal Point for the COMCEC PAWG, and representatives from the Directorate-General for the Management of the Poor.

"The meeting highlighted intervention policies for OIC countries and identified one policy recommendation that can be implemented to reduce urban poverty in line with the 'New Urban' Agenda or SDG 11," Adhy said.

The government has developed strategies to accelerate poverty management, including through the Family Hope Program (PKH) and the Non-Cash Food Assistance (BPNT) Program.

With various social assistance, the poverty rate had decreased to reach 9.22 percent according to a survey by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) in September 2019. (Antaranews)