FINAL 15.00 Country Statement By Prof. Dr. Fasli Jalal Chairman of the National Population and Family Planning Agency Republic of Indonesia at the Ministerial Segment of the Sixth Asian and Pacific Population Conference Agenda item 6: review on the forward-looking policies to address challenges in population and development, including the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development Bangkok, 19 September 2013
Mr. Chairperson, Excellencies, Distinguished delegates, Ladies and gentlemen, The commencement of this Conference is indeed timely and critical if we are to build a global consensus on where to go with population issue in the development agenda post-2015. Stronger commitment, perfected implementation strategy and better collaboration among countries, are essential keys for the success of further implementation of ICPD Programme of Action. In line with that commitment, since the past decade, the implementation of ICPD Programme of Action in Indonesia has been carried out through the enactment of a number of laws and regulations which, among others, include laws on human rights (1999), child protection (2002), manpower (2003), education (2003), elimination of domestic violence (2004), migrant workers (2004), prevention of trafficking in persons (2007), health (2009), youth (2009) and population and family planning (2009). In this relations, Indonesia has put the ICPD Programme of Action and the MDGs at the centre of national development. Up to now, the Government has been successful in achieving MDGs target for poverty reduction, compulsory 9-years basic education and is making steady progress in increasing this to 12-years. We are also proud to note the remarkable achievements in gender equity and equality in terms of school attendance for boys and girls. In terms of women s participation in political and public life, Indonesia has implemented a quota of 30% of women in our parliament. 1
Further, Indonesia has been successful in reducing the Infant Mortality Rate in recent years, despite challenges in achieving continuing reductions in infant and child mortality. We are also on track in achieving the MDGs as seen, among other, in our efforts to control the communicable diseases, especially tuberculosis and malaria. However, we are also aware that in several years to come, we will be dealing with a number of challenges in our development. To name a few are minimizing income disparity between regions, and addressing the Maternal Mortality Rate, which has risen due to, among other factors, slowed progress on family planning over the last decade. Mr. Chairperson, Today, Indonesia s population is 250 million with 1.49% annual growth. In 2030, Indonesia is expected to have 295 million population, and by 2035 the population is projected to be around 305 million. In other words, we are anticipating an additional of nearly 55 million new generation of young people by 2035. Some of them are now born already. Without doubt, Indonesia will be facing the pressure on demand for food, energy and water and other resources. By the year 2050, we must be ready to ensure the availability of adequate amount of food and energy for the entire population. Economic conflicts, in term of possessing resources, are thus inevitable. When population growth cannot be managed properly, it will be uncontrollable. At that time, when family planning programme and reproductive health fail to do their work, the number of population will certainly be much higher than any predictions. 2
In that connection, our right-based Family Planning Programme was internationally regarded as successful in lessening the total fertility rate from 5.6 children in the 1970s to approximately 2.6 children today. This was mostly due to robust government policy and strong support from grass-root level community participation, including local leaders and religious leaders. However, today, in order to overcome global and national strategic environment changes, the Indonesian Family Planning Programme need to be revitalized. At this juncture, our population dynamic is heading towards a phase of windows of opportunity which provides a good chance to gain demographic bonus in the 2020s where dependency ratio is about 46%, the lowest dependency ratio in our history due to the increasing number of productive age and the decreasing number of children. It is worth to note that our development priorities are pro-growth, pro-poor, pro-job, and pro-environment. To do this, Indonesia has been giving full attention to poverty alleviation programmes by empowering people to create jobs, securing 20 percent of the state budget for education, providing life skill education particularly for youth, establishing the national health insurance scheme, and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education, supported by sustainale economic growth. Mr. Chairperson, Reflecting from current population dynamics and trends, we would like to share a number of steps we have taken for addressing the challenges of population and development. 3
First, having a good population management policy is a necessity. Referring to our population growth projection in 2040, the Government of Indonesia has launched a Grand Design of Population Development 2011-2035, which will be implemented in a cross-sectoral and integrated manner. The Grand Design is a guideline for the government to provide services for the people according to population control and covers aspects of population quantity and quality, family development, mobility and population administration. It mainly aims to incorporate the population policy as an integral part of development policy. By doing so, a positive relationship between population and sustainable development could be accommodated. Second, we have also taken concrete steps to put Population and Family Planning back as a high priority at all levels of government. In order to overcome global and national strategic environment changes, the revitalization of family planning programme was conducted through the issuance of Law No. 52 of 2009 on Population Dynamics and Family Development. One of the factors for Indonesia s success in managing population and development issues will be the availability and better coverage of family planning services through the National Social Security Program implementation on health aspect. At the beginning of next year, Indonesia will begin to implement the universal coverage health insurance program. This scheme is dedicated for 164 million people nationwide; 84 millions of which are poor and near poor people. This new program provides opportunities for people, especially poor families, to access free and qualified health and family planning services at the nearest public health centers or facilities. Third, Indonesia must utilize the demographic bonus by investing in our young people. As youth constitutes a quarter of our population, we encourage their 4
full and active engagement in all aspects of the life of the society. With this in mind, we have conducted a comprehensive adolescent reproductive health education and promotion through school and out-of-school programmes. Such initiatives have been employed through collaboration with youth associations and civil society. Further, we are in fact focusing on educational programs especially for young girls, job training programs, better employment opportunities and markets, and increased household savings in parallel with family planning considerations. To improve youth employment, a national green skills development strategy has also been developed by the government, together with the private sector. We are pursuing a decentralized youth apprenticeship programme for green jobs, and take measures to foster entrepreneurship and self-employment in the green sector. Fourth, we have come to realize that the timing of the review of ICPD Beyond 2014 could not be more suitable for it is coincide with the deliberation of the post- 2015 development framework. On this note, Indonesia has responded current population and development dynamics by responding to changing needs by age, sex, location and socio-economic circumstances of people. We are working to support the most vulnerable populations, including the elderly people and migrant workers. We are convinced that the achievement of the highest degree of health quality and the empowerment of all people must not forget to embrace the ageing population who are in fact capable to contribute to development. Last year, elderly people were accounted for 8.2% of the total population and estimated to reach 11% in 2020 and 25% in 2050. As home of a large segment of older persons, we are therefore putting a particular attention to their social and economic situation and welfare. 5
Further, we also realize that development disparities among countries and regions could trigger legal and illegal migration. We recognize that international migration is taken root from the process of globalization and increasing economic interdependence which has led to a large movement of persons. However, international migration has increasingly become a major economic, social and humanitarian concern for the Asia Pacific region. At present, more than 4,5 million Indonesians live abroad and most of them are migrant workers, which have contributed a great deal to our economy. For many years, the government have promulgated laws and regulations and developed comprehensive and multisector strategies and resource allocation aiming to equip and protect our migrant workers. Further, to promote and protect the rights of migrant workers abroad, we have strengthened bilateral cooperation and legal protection frameworks with recipient countries. Fifth, as a middle-income country, Indonesia believes that collaboration among countries must be strengthened as the challenges posed by increasing population are beyond the management capability of individual countries. We acknowledge the unquestionable commitment of countries to tackle population problems as mandated by the ICPD through international partnership, including through South-South Cooperation. Many of the policies and technologies applied through programmes and projects as well as the lessons learned from developed countries can be utilized by developing countries. The major hindrance to implementation, however, is lack of adequate reliable funding, contrary to promises made at international conferences. Mr. Chairperson, We are hopeful that our deliberation today will contribute to the further implementation and fulfillment of the ICPD Goals, as well as the MDGs. 6
It is our hope and common vision that a world which is more equal, peaceful and sustainable will draw upon the spirits and actions coming out of Cairo 20 years ago, reaffirmed by all of us this week in Bangkok, and drive the Post 2015 Development Agenda in decades to come. I thank you. 7