A Closer Look: Indonesia
GOTONG ROYONG: FAMILY PLANNING THE INDONESIAN WAY
In his address to the London Summit on Family Planning in July 2012, Dr. Agung Laksono, then the coordinating minister for people’s welfare of the Republic of Indonesia, introduced the phrase gotong royong. It refers to the Indonesian principle of mutual aid and shared responsibility. Gotong royong, Dr. Laksono explained, is the driving force behind Indonesia’s commitment to family planning.
In the three years since, Indonesia has made strong progress on that commitment. A broad group of stakeholders are collaborating to revitalize the country’s family planning program, from the national level down to the smallest village. And the spirit of gotong royong is everywhere in evidence.
Indonesia’s new universal health coverage program, launched in January 2014, includes low-cost or free family planning for eligible couples. Increased mobile services are bringing contraceptives even to the most remote areas of the archipelago. More than 23,500 family planning clinics are in the process of being upgraded, and the government is training thousands of midwives and doctors.
To ensure that women are able to choose from a wide range of contraceptives, the Improving Contraceptive Method Mix (ICMM) project, implemented by K4Health, is working to expand the availability of IUDs and implants. And to mobilize resources for family planning at the local level, the KB Kencana initiative supports advocacy efforts aimed at district policymakers (read more under RRM Project Spotlight below).
Indonesia recognizes that a successful family planning program means a brighter, healthier future for everyone: women, children, families, communities, the country as a whole. And that getting there is everyone’s responsibility.
Strategies to raise awareness of family planning and generate demand are also in motion. The Right Time, Right Method, My Choice campaign, led by the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP), will reach 2.9 million women through radio, TV, print, and online outlets. Another CCP-led project is bringing the family planning message to women through prayer groups, Koran readings, and other activities organized by Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama, the two largest Muslim organizations in the country. The project will also explore pre-kindergarten and daycare networks as avenues for reaching young mothers.
The FP2020 Country Committee, which was established by the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) in 2013, brings together the many stake-holders who are contributing to this grand revitalization: the government, NGOs, civil society, the private sector, development partners, and donors. Strategic direction is provided by BKKBN, while a greatly increased budget—Indonesia’s allocation for family planning quadrupled from 2006 to 2014—supports efforts across the board.
Indonesia recognizes that a successful family planning program means a brighter, healthier future for everyone: women, children, families, communities, the country as a whole. And that getting there is everyone’s responsibility. Gotong royong.
RRM Project Spotlight:
Yayasan Cipta Cara Padu
Project Title: Supporting Family Planning Revitalization in Indonesia
Grantee: Yayasan Cipta Cara Padu (YCCP)
Location: East Java, South Sulawesi, Maluku, and Papua, Indonesia
Start Date: June 2015
“Expanding access to family planning isn’t just the government’s business,” says Inne Silviane. “It’s everyone’s business—NGOs, civil society, everyone.”
Inne Silviane is the executive director of Yayasan Cipta Cara Padu (YCCP), a Jakarta-based nonprofit that leads several advocacy efforts in Indonesia. With funding from FP2020’s Rapid Response Mechanism, YCCP is working to cultivate support for family planning at the local level.
In Indonesia’s decentralized political system, much of the budget for family planning is controlled by village and district governments. “Usually, family planning isn’t high on their list of priorities,” Inne says. “They’re thinking about infrastructure instead—roads, schools, housing.” YCCP’s job is to show local stakeholders how to make a convincing, compelling case for family planning to be funded.
The first step is to assemble a District Working Group, with members drawn from local government, the local BKKBN office, women’s groups, the midwives association, community and religious groups, and the private sector. Once established, the District Working Group functions as a multisectoral advocacy committee for family planning, with significant influence over local budgeting decisions.
It’s an approach that has already proved successful in Indonesia. YCCP’s project is part of the overall KB Kencana initiative, launched by BKKBN in 2012, and uses an advocacy template piloted by Advance Family Planning.
The reason it works, Inne explains, is because it repositions family planning as a community issue. “You have to get buy-in from everyone,” she says. “And then everyone has a stake in it.”
Photo by: Prashant Panjiar/Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
