There is a significant relation between the loss of parents and the problems that our children encounter. Attention to orphans is one of the efforts of the state to prevent problems that cause these children to lose their future.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Social Affairs Ministry has proposed social aid for orphans whose parents did not die due to COVID-19 in 2022.

Last year, the ministry unveiled a social aid program specifically for children who lost one or both of their parents due to COVID-19.

The social aid program will be continued this year, the ministry's secretary general, Harry Hikmat, informed here on Wednesday.

This year, Social Affairs Minister Tri Rismaharini has suggested the creation of social rehabilitation assistance for orphans to the Financial Ministry, he said.

It is expected that this can fulfill those children's needs, not just children whose parents died of COVID-19, he added.

Based on the Social Prosperity Integrated Data (DTKS), there are currently around four million children who lost one or both their parents and are in need of help, he highlighted.

Around 950 thousand children have lost both their parents, excluding children who lost their parents due to COVID-19.

The ministry plans to provide assistance worth Rp300 thousand per month to these children. The aid is expected to continue in 2023 so that the children are not vulnerable to abandonment, violence, and even exploitation.

"There is a significant relation between the loss of parents and the problems that our children encounter," Hikmat explained.

"Attention to orphans is one of the efforts of the state to prevent problems that cause these children to lose their future," he added.

Earlier, the ministry planned to distribute social aid to orphans.

Social aid is necessary because orphans are untouched within the family structure, or not included in the Family Hope Program's (PKH's) recipient family data, which puts them out of the state's reach, Minister Rismahirini said.

In addition to social aid for orphans, the government has also increased the amount of PKH social aid, including social aid for people with disabilities, elderly people who live alone, pregnant women, and infants.

This additional social aid is expected to be realized in September 2022.

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Translator: Devi Nindy S R, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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