Millennium Development Goals in Indonesia

The Indonesian Government has formulated reasonable poverty frameworks to work toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). But the latest progress report discloses that 16.6% of the population lived below the national poverty line in 2007, more than in 1990, the MDG baseline year. Another indicator which is rising rather than falling is the 8.8% of children under age 5 assessed to be severely underweight. In this context the impact of rising food prices is bound to be worrying, given that almost 35% of the population have incomes which place them only marginally above the poverty line and therefore vulnerable to adverse change.

Jakarta Shanty , Indonesia. © Adrian Arbib

More positive progress features in education for which the government is committed to allocating an increasing share of the national budget, currently 17%. Net enrolment in primary education has reached 95% with no significant bias against access for girls. However, nationally aggregated statistics for any of the MDGs fail to capture the degree of underdevelopment among “pockets of poor”. For example, whilst only 4.6% of people living in Jakarta fall below the poverty line, the comparable figure in Papua is 40.8%. Although the Goal to reduce extreme poverty (inability to buy sufficient food) to 10.0% has already been achieved at national level, this is largely due to development gains in a few wealthier regions.

Health in Indonesia

Indonesia’s mixed progress towards health-related MDGs raises similar ambiguities. Whilst child and infant mortality rates have fallen rapidly in line with targets, maternal mortality remains at over 300 per 100,000 births, unusually high for this region, reflecting skills shortage and high costs of access to adequate facilities. Although only 52% of Indonesians have regular access to clean drinking water, this is deemed to be on target despite concerns about poor quality and maintenance standards.

The fight against communicable diseases faces serious challenges. Approximately 18 million malaria cases are reported annually, and Indonesia has the world’s third highest incidence of tuberculosis. National prevalence of HIV/AIDS is currently low (0.1%) but, in Papua and West Papua provinces, the virus has spread beyond the highest risk groups and prevalence is 2.5%. A study commissioned by the United Nations Programme on HIV and Aids in March 2008 sounded the alarm about an impending HIV/AIDS disaster in Asia with Indonesia having the fastest rise in infections and poor awareness of the risks. The cost of health care and the crude facilities deter many from seeking early medical intervention or testing.
Climate Change in Indonesia

Log barge, Indonesia, FO-5709 © Patrick Durst / Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations

Indonesia is uniquely boxed in by climate change. Its high rate of deforestation has catapulted the country into the top five contributors to carbon emissions. At the same time Indonesia faces very significant potential impacts, potentially undermining the MDG programme. A World Bank sponsored report envisages “serious food security and health threats while endangering the habitats and livelihoods of coastal communities”. As the wet and dry seasons become more extreme in their character, there are concerns that rice varieties that typically crop twice a year will no longer do so and that water availability for irrigation and household use will be disrupted.

Indonesia is no stranger to extreme weather events, typically brought about by the phenomenon known as El Nino. The rising temperatures of climate change appear not only to be modifying the frequency of El Nino to once every 3 years instead of 4, but also to increasing the intensity of its tempests and floods. A string of disasters over recent years have revealed the tragic vulnerability of communities throughout Indonesia to natural phenomena. Damage to human life and infrastructure is rising.

There is very limited room for manoevre in countering the impact of climate change in Indonesia. There is reference to use of appropriate seed varieties, to planting mangrove forests to protect coastal populations, and to strengthening the infrastructure of water and sanitation. In international negotiations for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, Indonesia is advocating that the Clean Development Mechanism should be amended so that a halt to deforestation would be rewarded by carbon credit payments from rich countries. Carbon trading markets are already being used to help villages in Indonesia preserve trees. For example, the expected revenue of about $26 million from the sale of carbon credits will go to villages that stop logging the 1.9 million-acre Ulu Masen forest in Indonesia's Aceh province.

The plight of Indonesia’s forests exemplifies the predicament between economic imperatives and environmental destruction; logging claims more than 1.6 million hectares of forest each year, believed to be the fastest rate of deforestation in the world and possibly 80% illegal. National laws are in place but are impeded by local politics and corruption. The current craze for biofuels as an antidote to climate change is also pressuring forests and creating land disputes with indigenous groups whose livelihoods are linked to the forest. Indonesia is already the world’s second largest producer of palm oil and plans to increase planting by 50% by 2010.

Aceh after the tsunami © AID|WATCH / Independent Media Center

Although not connected to climate change, the earthquake and tsunami that struck the northern region of Aceh in December 2004 killed up to 200,000 people lost their lives – the majority of them women - hundreds of thousands were injured, and many more lost their homes and livelihoods. The force of the tidal wave permanently altered the coastline and the infusion of seawater, sometimes more than 20km inland, caused heavily salination of productive land. Although the government body tasked with reconstruction is due to end its mandate in 2009 having already rebuilt over 100,000 homes and invested $4.6 billion, the economic, social, political and psychological impacts of the disaster will last for generations.

Politics and the Military in Indonesia

Since the fall of the Soeharto dictatorship in 1998, a series of political reforms have been implemented to build the framework of liberal democracy. New rules have been instituted for political parties, the electoral system and parliamentary bodies. The president is limited to two terms in office and, from 2004, elected by direct popular vote - an election in which Megawati Sukarnoputri was replaced by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Yet while the framework of electoral democracy has been well established, progress in deepening democracy has been hampered by the slow pace of judicial and military reform. The much touted “de-centralisation” policy intended to bring “governance closer to the people” has in many cases created “little kings” exploiting their position for personal economic and political gain.

Mass graves in East Timor © Radio Netherlands

During the Soeharto era, the military cultivated influence over all aspects of national life and built an omnipotence that has been difficult to dismantle. Even today, in the “Reform Era”, the military often acts beyond the law and enjoys broad impunity. This is most blatantly evident in the failure of efforts in Indonesia to seek proper redress for the gross violations of human rights that occurred during the occupation of East Timor. While broader freedom of expression, reduced media control and increased awareness of rights have helped to curtail military abuses in the Reform Era, the Indonesian military continues to flaunt human rights norms, particularly in conflict areas, and subvert the interests of communities to their own political and economic agendas.

The death in January 2008 of former President Soeharto, the man named by Transparency International as the most corrupt of all time, ended a political era, but has not as yet ushered in a new era in the pursuit of justice. Legal actions either for corruption or human rights abuses initiated against Soeharto and his family before his death now face uncertainty. Opportunist calls for forgiveness of other elites with “dirty hands” have so far drowned out demands for accountability.
Human Rights in Indonesia

In February 2006, Indonesia acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. But many aspects of these covenants are yet to make their way into policy or practice. The assassination of well-known human rights activist, Munir Said Thalib, in September 2004 revealed how human rights defenders continue to face formidable threats to their work and life. Such concerns were validated by the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General who reported in June 2007 that, although there was some progress, particularly in post-conflict Aceh, state institutions or private interests impede the work of activists. The global anti-terrorism campaign has provided a new pretext for repressive internal security.

Discrimination against minority groups, including ethnic Chinese, indigenous people, former political prisoners and others, will persist until policies change and perceptions shift. For the large population of poor, especially urban poor and land-less farmers, social and economic rights are compromised and opportunities for control over key aspects of their own welfare are severely restricted. There has been an increase in religious intolerance in recent years, evidenced by attacks on religious minorities and places of worship.

Gender violence protest, Papua © Jane McGrory

The struggle for gender equity is on-going. The political economy of Indonesia is dominantly patriarchal, and socio-culture imposes constraints on women’s empowerment. Women are poorly represented in public life and make up less than 12% of members of parliament. Working women are at the bottom of the labour pyramid, often filling menial jobs in factories and offices. Gender-based violence and discrimination are persistent problems given the failure of the government and dominant social institutions to address its roots. At a national gathering of women’s activists in September 2006, women's rights activists declared their intent to seek a bigger role in administrations and local legislative councils, and to fight against a new wave of local regulations, often Shariah-inspired, such as stipulations on clothing and public activities by women, that are undermining the principles of religious pluralism that are the foundation of the Indonesian nation.

The labour union movement is all but dead and workers everywhere are ruthlessly exploited and quiescent. Dissent can mean dismissal, with widespread unemployment driving down wages and conditions.
The Economy in Indonesia

Fishmarket in Indonesia © C R Shepherd courtesy TRAFFIC / Environment News Service (ENS)

Following the collapse of the economy in 1997, international creditors instituted massive “rescue” packages complete with stringent conditions for structural adjustment, including demands for privatisation and market liberalisation. The official debt burden has been onerous, peaking at 100 per cent of GDP at the end of 2000. Although the government settled its debts with the IMF in mid-2006, Indonesia still has to pay Rp 63.5 trillion (USD 6.9 billion) in interest each year on its foreign debts.

Transparency International’s latest index places Indonesia amongst the world’s most corrupt nations. The economy is constrained accordingly as is the capacity of funds secured for development objectives to bring about real and lasting improvements. Concerns about security – particularly following a series of bombings targeting Westerners and Western interests in Indonesia – have dampened foreign investment and undermined important tourism-related income.

The disparity between rich and poor is among the world’s highest. And while there is an emergent middle-class in larger cities, the ranks of urban poor and subsistence farmers are massive. These vulnerable groups have been hit hard by the rising prices of basic commodities in 2007/8, as well as a government policy banning the use of kerosene for cooking in preference for “cleaner” but more costly LPG.
Conflict in Indonesia

Indonesian Military Plane © Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep

Violent conflict is a persistent threat to development and human rights in Indonesia. Its impact extends to all aspects of human life and way beyond actual conflict areas. There are long running secessionist struggles in Aceh, Papua and Maluku, and in recent years, there have been incidents of communal conflict in Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Java and Eastern Indonesia. Underlying each of these conflicts is a complex web of competing interests and grievances, which often run along ethnic and religious fault lines. Each of these conflict situations is made more devastating by militarised responses and protracted neglect of its root causes of injustice.

soldier in Jayapura, Papua © Jane McGrory

One of Indonesia’s longest running conflicts takes place in the eastern region of Papua. Armed conflict between the Indonesian military and the separatist Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka) has caused widespread displacement, a high toll in civilian deaths and human insecurity. Yet this is only one dimension of the violence in Papua, where human rights abuses, restricted civil liberties, economic marginalisation, discrimination, as well as suspicion between different ethnic and religious groups create a diffuse and structural conflict that causes widespread suffering and disadvantage. This particularly impacts indigenous Papuan communities who feel that they were robbed of their right to self-determination when Indonesia gained sovereignty over Papua in 1969, and they resent the repressive and violent means that Indonesia has used to secure its control over the territory.

Indonesia’s northernmost point, the Aceh region, also has a long history of conflict. Beginning in the mid-1970s, the Indonesian government waged a series of military campaigns against the Free Aceh Movement - Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM) – which fought to free Aceh from Indonesian control. In the almost 30 years of conflict, 15,000 civilian deaths were reported and there were widespread human rights violations; the impacts of protracted conflict on the well-being of Acehnese are inestimable.

In 2005, a peace process came to life in Aceh amid the death and destruction of the Indian Ocean tsunami. An accord was signed between the Indonesian government and GAM on 17 July 2005 and a year later the peace deal was holding and legislation codifying many of the autonomy reforms promised in the deal was enacted. Although there has been some disappointment that the Aceh governance law does not fully live up to the promises of the peace agreement, the people of Aceh are optimistically holding on to hope of an end of war.
Information and Media in Indonesia

Freedom of the press has also expanded since the fall of Soeharto in 1998. Indonesia has a vibrant and vocal media industry, which has contributed significantly to the process of democratisation and the strengthening of civil society. Despite the massive expansion of media freedom, journalists are often subjected to threats and intimidation, particularly in conflict areas. Economic and political elites have also shown that they are not averse to using force, legal action and coercion to curtail the power of the media if it threatens their interests. Standards of media professionalism are often wanting.

When it comes to the Internet, there is a domestic digital divide, with accessibility generally restricted to urban centres. Yet, ICT and mobile phone texting have contributed in meaningful ways to freedom of information and democratisation. Mass mobilisations to bring down the Soeharto dictatorship were also aided by these technologies. There are 20 million internet users and citizen journalism and blogging have started to gain some momentum.



Jane McGrory is a Cooperant to the Dutch development organisation, Cordaid, based in Jogjakarta, Indonesia.

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