Poverty Reduction Must Be Built Through an Ecosystem, Minister Muhaimin Says

Social assistance should remain a temporary cushion, not Indonesia’s main answer to poverty, Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment Abdul Muhaimin Iskandar said in Solo, Central Java.

“The main thing is community self-reliance,” Muhaimin said at a regional coordination meeting on reducing poverty and eliminating extreme poverty. He argued that social assistance provides a cushion and social security acts as a safety net, but neither replaces the need to help people become economically independent.

Muhaimin said the government needed to promote a shift in policy thinking. An approach centred on social protection should move toward community empowerment, with an integrated ecosystem connecting assistance to job creation, higher incomes and opportunities for business.

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Social assistance is only a temporary cushion, while social security is merely a safety net. The main thing is community self-reliance.

He said the government could not build that system alone. Central and local administrations would need to work with businesses, industry, universities and philanthropic organisations. “The next step is to strengthen the ecosystem. This is what matters. We must create an ecosystem across sectors so they are integrated, including industry, stakeholders, philanthropy and universities,” he said.

Industry, he added, could create jobs and open new economic access for communities. Universities could help ensure that empowerment policies and interventions continued to develop alongside science and technology. Philanthropic organisations could serve as strategic partners, using the public trust they hold to reach people in need.

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The next step is to strengthen the ecosystem. This is what matters. We must create an ecosystem across sectors so they are integrated, including industry, stakeholders, philanthropy and universities.