Family planning program is making a comeback in Jakarta, Indonesia. Ten years ago, the country was known for its two-child policy and has gained international recognition.
The International Conference on Family Planning is set to be opened by President Joko Widodo to address current issues like contraceptives and reproductive health. Jakarta is the world's 4th most populated country, and they are making a move to lower the birthrate to energize its economic growth. The government is planning to provide more funds into education and information dissemination as for the importance of family planning as this issue puts a strain on water, education, housing, and employment needs as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Former autocrat Suharto's program on population helped Indonesia gain its economic growth which last until 1998. But after ten years since the year 2000, the country's population program stopped and caused its detriment.
According to Hari Fitri Putjuk, a representative from John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center, there was no sufficient effort, accurate information, no promotion during those times and now younger people are not aware that there is such a program. Jose Oying Rimon, Director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Institution, fewer children increases the working age and leads to a more sustainable development.
A few years ago, Indonesia tried to bring back the population program but because of lack of funds and commitment from the local government, the progress has been slow. Now President Widodo is committed to reviving the program. He started the campaign in a village in The West Java. Services are provided for free under a universal health program. Clinics and training of health workers have also been improved to increase the program's success rate.
According to The Daily Mail, the national population conducted a survey last 2015, Indonesia's fertility rate has dropped from 2.6 to 2.3 children per woman and the goal is to decrease it further to 2.1 by 2025. Head of the National Population Family Planning Program, Surya Chandra Surapatry said that the family planning program is geared towards ensuring that the population growth doesn't affect the benefits of economic expansion.
The program still has a lot of loop holes that needs improvement. One issue related to this is that it targets only married couples due to the regulatory restrictions in the Muslim-majority country. Experts say that there are still cultural and religious barriers that need to be addressed so that it will be a sustainable program for the well-being of Indonesia's people and economy.
