THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN INDONESIA 2000-2010 308
THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN INDONESIA 2000-2010 309
Figure 4.5.3: Percentage of households living below the national poverty line, Indonesia and Central Java 1999-2009
Source: National Socio-Economic Surveys 1999-2009
Figure 4.5.4: Percentage of population below the poverty line by area, Central Java 1999-2009
Source: National Socio-Economic Surveys 1999-2009
In line with the reduction in aggregate poverty levels in the province, Central Java’s human development index HDI has been continuously improving since 2000. This is illustrated in Figure
4.5.5, which shows the improvements of Central Java’s HDI, gender development index GDI, and gender empowerment measure GEM from the year 1999 to 2007. As shown, by 2008, Central
Java’s HDI had increased to 70.92 from 68.9 in 2004.
480
According to the Central Java Provincial Medium-Term Development Plan RPJMD, Central Java’s HDI now ranks fourteenth among the
nation’s 31 provinces and 2 special regions.
481
Although all districts of Central Java have improved their HDI, there is still wide inter-district variation See annex 4.5. While some districts have improved even above the national average,
others still rank below the national average. A comparison of urban and rural districts in Central Java shows disparities in the improvement of the HDI, similar to the uneven reduction in poverty
in rural areas, such that some rural districts still sit well below the national and provincial averages. One example of above-average improvement has occurred in urban Surakarta, the
district in which the Child-Friendly City is being piloted as discussed in the second part of this subsection. In 2007, Surakarta’s HDI ranked sixteenth among all 471 districts in Indonesia, and
was the only district from Central Java to be ranked among the nation’s 20 districts with the highest HDI.
482
An example of below-average improvement is Brebes district. While in 2007 the HDI of the district of Surakarta was 76, far above the provincial average, the HDI in Brebes was
only 64.3, far below the provincial and national averages, ranking last among all districts in the province.
Figure 4.5.5: Human development index HDI, gender development index GDI, and gender empowerment measure GEM, Central Java 1999-2007
Source: BPS - BAPPENAS - UNDP, Indonesia Human Development Report, 2004 data 1999 and 2002, BPS - The Ministry of Women’s Empowerment, Gender Based Human Development Report
Overall, wealth distribution in Central Java has become more equal across population groups over the past years, as indicated by a small decrease in the Gini Index from 0.28 in 2005 to 0.25 in
2007.
483
However, the distribution of wealth within districts in Central Java is still highly unequal, especially in rural areas see annex 4.5. Furthermore, the wide disparity across districts is also
reflected in the Williamson Index,
484
which stood at 0.75 for Central Java in 2005 and 0.74 in 2007
485
, indicating a wide disparity in the gross regional domestic product GRDP across districts municipalities. Indeed, some cities, such as Semarang and Surakarta, have a relatively high GRDP,
whereas some districts, such as Brebes and Wonosobo, show a lower GRDP.
486
The combination of a large proportion of children and women in the population in Central Java as discussed in section 4.5.2 on demographics is important in terms of human, social
and economic development measures and policy approaches. Despite overall improving poverty trends, gender-based inequality in human development persists in Central Java in
terms of income, human rights and political freedom. Many women still face unequal income opportunities and employment conditions. This is evidenced by the 2007 GEM and GDI for Central
Java, which stood at 64.3 and 59.7, respectively.
487
Furthermore, although the 2006 National Socio-Economic Survey data showed an almost equal number of men and women entering the
employment market, on average women’s wages were lower than men’s despite overall increases
480 BPS - Statistics Indonesia and the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment 2007 Gender-based human development report, BPS - Statistics Indonesia: Jakarta
481 Central Java Provincial Government 2009 Central Java Medium-Term Development Plan RPJMD 2008-2013, Central Java Provincial Government: Semarang, p13
30.00 25.00
Per cent
20.00 15.00
10.00 1999
2000 2001
2002 2003
2004
Year
Indonesia C
entral Java 2005
2006 2007
2008 2009
28.46 23.43
18.95 18.40 18.20 17.42 16.66 15.97
17.75 16.58 15.42
14.15 21.16 22.07
23.06 21.78 21.11 20.43
19.23 17.72
482 Ibid., p14; BPS - Statistics Indonesia and the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment 2007 Gender-based human development report 483 BPS - Statistics Indonesia relevant years data from the National Socio-Economic Survey, BPS: Jakarta
484 The Williamson Index indicates inequality across regions, while the Gini Index indicates inequality across population groups 485 Central Java Provincial Government 2009 Central Java Medium-Term Development Plan RPJMD 2008-2013, p15
486 Ibid. 487 BPS - Statistics Indonesia and the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment 2007 Gender-based human development report
64.6 66.3
68.9 69.8
70.3 70.9
57.4 58.7
59.8 60.8
63.7 64.3
51.2 51.0
56.5 56.9
59.3 59.7
45.0 50.0
55.0 60.0
65.0 70.0
75.0
1999 2002
2004 2005
2006 2007
Index
HDI GDI
GEM 0.00
5.00 10.00
15.00 20.00
25.00
1999
27. 8
28. 8
20. 2
21. 8
1999 20.
5 25.
19. 7
23. 2
17. 5
23. 6
17. 2
23. 5
16. 3
22. 15.
4 19. 9
11. 4
2000 2001
2002 2003
2004 2005
2006 2007
2008 2009
30.00 35.00
40.00
Urban Rural
Per cent
THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN INDONESIA 2000-2010 310
THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN INDONESIA 2000-2010 311
in wages each year. For example, on average women freelance workers in the non-agricultural sector earned only 46 per cent of what men earned in February 2005, and this increased to 60 per
cent in February 2007.
488
4.5.4 HEALTH, NUTRITION, WATER AND SANITATION, AND EDUCATION
While indicators in health, nutrition, and access to clean water and adequate sanitation have improved province-wide in Central Java, they continue to be better in urban than in rural areas.
Between 2000-2008, access to clean water among rural households improved from 45.9 per cent to 52.1 per cent, whereas this improved from 61.4 per cent to 64.4 per cent among urban
households.
489
Likewise, access to adequate sanitation improved from 19.5 per cent to 38.2 per cent of rural households over the same period, whereas access improved from 54.5 per cent to
65.0 per cent of urban households.
490
Compared to other provinces in Indonesia, such as NTT, Central Java has made relatively greater improvements in health and nutritional status. For instance, the infant mortality rate IMR has
been decreasing since 2002-2003, from 36 per 1,000 to 26 per 1,000 in 2007, and the under-five mortality rate U5MR has been successfully reduced to and already reached the MDG target of 32
per 1,000 per live births in 2007.
491
One of the programmes introduced by the Central Java Ofice of Health, which has no doubt contributed to these improvements, has been the Planning for
Deliveries and Preventing Complications during Birth programme P4K, Perencanaan Persalinan dan Pencegahan Komplikasi. The importance of giving birth in health facilities attended by skilled
professionals for reducing mortality rates has been highlighted previously both in the national overview of health Section 3.1 and in the case study on health and nutrition in NTT Section
4.2. In contrast to NTT where the IMR is far higher and births often take place at home without the assistance of skilled birth attendants, the geographic distances to travel to health facilities
in Central Java are far smaller the province is not formed of many islands and there is greater uptake of skilled birth attendants.
“The Central Java Provincial Ofice of Health has initiated the Planning for Deliveries and Preventing Complications during Birth programme P4K…The programme aims to have all
expectant mothers registered with health facilities, allowing for easier identification of high- risk mothers. Successful implementation of the programme depends on the support of other
village institutions as well as community participation. Village midwives, with the help of other health officials, identify expectant mothers and assist them in devising a safe birthing
plan. The midwives also monitor the developing pregnancy, from conception to birth.” Staff at the Department of Family Health and Nutrition Unit, Central Java Provincial Ofice of
Health, 9 September 2009
Under this programme, the Ofice of Health actively monitors pregnant women by encouraging their participation in monitoring their own pregnancies.
492
However, the staff at the Ofice of
488 BAPPENAS 2007 Laporan pencapaian Millennium Development Goals Indonesia 2007, BAPPENAS: Jakarta 489 Based on the National Socio-Economic Survey, processed by BPS - Statistics Indonesia, Jakarta, 2009. For more detailed information
refer to annex 4.5 on Central Java. 490 Ibid. The improvement is partly due to a programme called Community Based Drinking Water and Sanitation Provisions Pamsismas,
Penyediaan Air Minum dan Sanitasi Berbasis Masyarakat , which aims to improve clean water and sanitation, and to projects such
as Water and Sanitation Support for Program for Low Income Communities WSSLIC, Urban Poverty Reduction Programme P2KP, which provide facilities to build suitable sanitation facilities in urban areas. These programs strive to improve the quality of basic
infrastructure in relation to reaching MDGs such as clean drinking water and sanitation BAPPENAS 2007 Laporan Pencapaian Millennium Development Goals Indonesia 2007.
491 BPS - Statistics Indonesia and Macro International 2008 Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey IDHS 2002-2003 and 2007 492 Interview with staff of the Central Java Ofice of Health 9 September 2009
Health stated that there is still low awareness about maternal health among women in rural areas, as well as a lack of health facilities for pregnant women. This has made reduction of the MMR and
IMR more difficult in rural areas such as Brebes, Batang and Blora.
493
Further indicators for child health and nutritional status include underweight, stunting, and wasting, which are indicators of malnutrition. Riskesdas 2007 data show that the prevalence of
children under five years old suffering from stunting was still 36 per cent, wasting was 12 per cent and the rate of children who were underweight was 16 per cent.
494
While stunting rates in Central Java sit around the national average, wasting and underweight rates are below the national
average. As stated in the RPJMD for Central Java: “The lower prevalence of severe malnutrition in Central Java compared to the national
level is due to the Central Java government’s intensive efforts to implement programmes aimed at reducing the number of cases of severe malnutrition. These intensive efforts have
been made through the revitalisation of posyandu [integrated health service posts], hamlet head referrals, and providing guidance for families with members suffering from severe
malnutrition. In line with these efforts, efforts have also been made to increase keluarga sadar gizi [families aware of the importance of nutrition].”
495
Improvements in the health and nutritional status of a society are important for promoting human capabilities in other areas, such as education and employment productivity. In Central Java,
however, despite the nine-year compulsory education programme, many children still leave school early, before the completion of junior secondary school, due to economic factors.
496
While enrolment rates at the primary school level are high in Central Java compared to other provinces
see annex 4.5, and early school leaving dropout rates are falling at the primary school level, the large population in Central Java means that a large number of children are still not receiving
nine years of basic education. Transition rates to junior secondary school fell from 82 per cent in 200607 to 74 per cent in 200708, and there have only been marginal improvements 1-2 per cent
in net attendance rates at the junior secondary school level, with these rates roughly the same for boys and girls see annex 4.5. Furthermore, early school leaving rates for secondary school
have been rising in recent years see annex 4.5. In urban areas, such as Surakarta and Semarang, many school-age children work on the street singing for money, begging, and so on. A lack of
parental awareness about the importance of education often results in low support for their children’s education and uncontrolled truancy.
497
Many parents remove their children from junior secondary school because they are considered mature enough to help their parents running small
food shops and kiosks.
498
Often, children who live in rural villages must help their parents during the rice harvest times, or with fishing during high yield times in coastal areas. Some parents are
hesitant to keep their children in school because they are uncertain about the future employment possibilities that result from schooling.
499
In sum, despite overall improvements in poverty levels, human development, and other areas such as health and education in Central Java, urbanrural disparities persist. These factors likely
contribute to the migration of children to urban areas, either with their families or alone. The
493 Ibid. 494 Ministry of Health 2008 Riskesdas 2007
495 Central Java Provincial Government 2009 RPJMD 2010-2013, p26 496 Ministry of National Education 2009, Statistics of National Education, available at: www.depdiknas.go.idstatistik Last accessed 1 July
2009 497 FGD staff with at BAPPEDA District Development Planning Agency in Brebes 16 September 2009
498 Ibid. 499 Ibid.
