COVID-19

Highlights

• The socioeconomic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that the social assistance system in Indonesia needs to be improved in order to respond to crises caused by a nonnatural disaster.
• Lack of coordination and synchronization in the data collection and management of the information of social assistance beneficiaries and in the distribution of assistance are at the root of all problems that the central government still cannot solve holistically.

•  Almost 69 million Indonesian students face a significant risk of loss in learning during government-mandated school closures to prevent Covid-19 transmission. Some groups of students, mainly high achieving students from highly educated parents, are however better protected, implying that learning inequality is likely to widen under such conditions.
• Only 40% of Indonesians have internet access (which is critical for home-based learning), and this will exacerbate learning inequality, especially outside of Java.

The arrival of COVID-19 has created unprecedented challenges for the world. In Indonesia, the coronavirus has infected more than a million people since the first confirmed cases in March 2020 and tens of thousands have died. Coronavirus curbs on the economy and society continue to have a shocking impact on human development. After years of progress, poverty is rising again. One in ten people in Indonesia today are living below the national poverty line. Child poverty may increase significantly.