Poverty and Inequality Analysis
When President Jokowi took the office at the end of 2014, Indonesia was facing the problem of stagnating poverty and inequality reduction. He quickly introduced several initiatives to address these problems, mainly in the form of cards which gave the poor access to education and health services as well as food and cash transfer, and grants for villages as mandated by the Village Law.
Rapid economic development in Jabodetabek—a metropolitan area consisting of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Tangerang Selatan, and Bekasi—has caused an influx of migrants to the region, leading to the highest urban concentration in Indonesia. Despite such development, the poverty rate has remained relatively stagnant at around 6% since the early 2000s.
The commitment to achieving equal social welfare improvement is high on the development agenda throughout the world. This commitment is summarized in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), consisting of 17 goals and 169 targets. The main targets include eliminating poverty and hunger in any forms and dimensions, achieving equality, and tackling climate change.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are recognized as the global development agenda with a wider and more inclusive mandate than the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which ended in 2015. The SDGs differed to the MDGs as the latter were formulated by experts from member states of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and some international institutions.
