Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment, Abdul Muhaimin Iskandar, says that the government is currently focusing on addressing the problem of extreme poverty and will provide assistance in stages to help the Indonesian poor.
Currently, there are 3.1 million Indonesian people or 790 thousand families who fall into this category.
“Our focus is to overcome all the problems faced by our brothers and sisters in areas of extreme poverty,” Muhaimin said on Thursday, January 29, 2025.
At the first stage, the focus will be on increasing special aid for the extreme poor. As for the second stage, it is to provide access to develop skills for the extreme poor who are still of productive age. Then, the third is to encourage those in the extremely poor position to be independent.
Saifullah Yusuf, Minister of Social Affairs, added that his ministry, together with related ministries and institutions, is conducting data collection to ensure accurate extreme poverty data.
“Currently, we are in the process of profiling. There are elderly people, people with disabilities, and those who are still of productive age. Of course, each category will be treated with a different program,” Saifullah said.
After the final data collection process, the Ministry of Social Affairs will determine the type of assistance to be provided, with the first focus on social protection and security, followed by empowerment.
