"We are optimistic it (the extreme poverty rate) will decline to zero percent," the ministry's deputy for the coordination of social welfare improvement, Nunung Nuryartono, told the press here on Monday
The optimism is based on the results of the National Socioeconomic Survey (Susenas) in March 2023, which showed that the rate of extreme poverty in 13 provinces was close to zero. In September 2022, there were only 6 provinces where the rate was close to zero.
According to him, Indonesia's extreme poverty rate stood at 1.12 percent in March 2023, down 0.62 percentage points from 1.74 percent in September 2022.
Nuryartono said that the decline in the extreme poverty rate was supported by the success of several poverty alleviation programs carried out in coordination with a number of ministries and institutions.
"Of course, the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture is ensuring the strategies can run well. We must really ensure the synergy between central and regional (governments)," he added.
He noted that the success of the programs was supported by the complementary programs of regional governments.
He said that several poverty alleviation programs have been running effectively because they are carried out based on accurate data as a reference.
This, he added, has shown that the integration of programs and strategies of each party has been implemented well on the field.
"This highlighted that these efforts generated a significant impact on the decline of the extreme poverty rate," he said.
Nevertheless, he noted that the efforts that have been made have still not been enough. Therefore, he invited all parties to cooperate to achieve a zero percent extreme poverty rate in 2024 in Indonesia.
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Translator: Sean Filo, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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