"As mandated by the President, we must work hard to break the cycle of poverty and act quickly to address extreme poverty," Iskandar said during a coordination meeting in Jakarta on Monday.
He stressed that Prabowo’s instruction is intended to meet the target of reducing extreme poverty to 0 percent by 2026 — a goal that leaves the government only eight months to deliver.
"We have a target of 0 percent extreme poverty by the end of 2026," Iskandar said.
According to him, the government has prepared three key strategies: raising community income, reducing household expenditure burdens, and eliminating pockets of poverty.
He emphasized that community empowerment is now a central approach in poverty reduction, combining social assistance with efforts to create an ecosystem that fosters self-reliance.
"Every region has a responsibility to implement community empowerment strategies," Iskandar noted.
Accurate, localized data will also be essential for effective implementation, he added, urging regional heads to consistently use the National Socioeconomic Single Data (DTSEN) when applying poverty-alleviation policies.
"All regional heads must coordinate with Statistics Indonesia and the central government to keep data updated and ensure programs are on target," he said.
Under Presidential Instruction No. 8/2025, the Coordinating Ministry for Community Empowerment is tasked with leading the poverty-alleviation agenda across 47 ministries and state institutions.
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Translator: Anita Permata Dewi, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Anton Santoso
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