Inclusive Social Protection in Indonesia's Remote Areas: Overcoming Barriers to Access and Equity

Indonesia has made significant progress in social protection, but rural and remote areas face challenges in accessing benefits due to data, communication, and resource limitations. A study by the World Bank and Oxford Policy Management recommends targeted measures to improve inclusion and delivery in these regions.

Indonesia has made significant progress in expanding its social protection system, especially in the past decade. Government expenditure on social assistance more than doubled since 2009, reaching IDR 161.03 trillion (USD10.14 billion) in 2022. Key programs such as the Family Hope Program (PKH), Program Sembako food assistance, and the Smart Indonesia Program (PIP) have played a crucial role in extending coverage and improving the delivery of social assistance. These efforts have contributed to a significant reduction in poverty, with health insurance coverage (JKN) expanding, and the poverty rate decreasing from 19.1 percent in 2000 to 9.5 percent in 2022. Despite these strides, challenges persist, particularly in rural and remote areas where the poverty rate in 2023 was 12.2 percent compared to 7.3 percent in urban areas. Extreme poverty is highly concentrated in rural provinces like Nusa Tenggara Timur and Papua. These regions face substantial obstacles in accessing social protection programs, leading to disparities in education, healthcare, and access to clean water.

A study by the World Bank, conducted by Oxford Policy Management, aimed to identify barriers that remote rural communities face in accessing four crucial social assistance and insurance programs: PKH, Program Sembako, Village Fund Direct Cash Assistance (BLT-DD), and BPJS Employment Insurance. Primary data was collected from Western, Central, and Eastern Indonesia, focusing on villages categorized as remote areas.

Barriers to Beneficiary Coverage and Outreach

The research revealed several challenges in ensuring beneficiary coverage, conducting outreach, managing intake, assessing needs and conditions, and delivering benefits in remote areas. One significant challenge is the lack of disaggregated data to distinguish program coverage in remote and non-remote areas, hindering a complete understanding of coverage issues. Communication and outreach about program procedures are generally lacking, and the inaccessibility of locations significantly impedes program-related communications. Intake processes are also constrained by a supply-driven approach, subjectivity in decision-making, and limited awareness among potentially eligible households. Moreover, the assessment of needs and conditions in remote areas is hindered by homogeneous poverty conditions, a lack of remote-area specific variables, and outdated data. The implementation of PKH Akses, which was set up to address these issues, has not evolved since its inception. Uptake capacity is constrained by limited human and financial resources, weak supporting infrastructure, and inadequate budgets for monitoring and verification activities in remote areas.

Improving Data and Communication Strategies

The study recommends several measures to improve social protection inclusion in remote areas. These include ensuring data disaggregation down to the village level, conducting targeted analysis of eligibility and beneficiary coverage, developing a robust communication strategy, enhancing stakeholder engagement, and leveraging communal aspects of payment days for information dissemination. Additionally, the government should improve the quantity and quality of human resources, increase program budgets, and prioritize advocacy for coordinated approaches to improve constraints such as road networks and internet connectivity. Finally, conducting a comprehensive assessment of delivery methods and developing a hybrid approach to enhance the accessibility of benefits for beneficiaries in remote areas is essential.

Enhancing Human Resources and Budgets

Addressing the unique challenges faced by remote rural areas is crucial for ensuring inclusive and effective social protection coverage for all citizens. One significant challenge is the lack of disaggregated data to distinguish program coverage in remote and non-remote areas, hindering a complete understanding of coverage issues. Communication and outreach about program procedures are generally lacking, and the inaccessibility of locations significantly impedes program-related communications. Intake processes are also constrained by a supply-driven approach, subjectivity in decision-making, and limited awareness among potentially eligible households. Moreover, the assessment of needs and conditions in remote areas is hindered by homogeneous poverty conditions, a lack of remote-area specific variables, and outdated data. The implementation of PKH Akses, which was set up to address these issues, has not evolved since its inception. Uptake capacity is constrained by limited human and financial resources, weak supporting infrastructure, and inadequate budgets for monitoring and verification activities in remote areas.

Targeted Recommendations for Social Protection

The study recommends several measures to improve social protection inclusion in remote areas. These include ensuring data disaggregation down to the village level, conducting targeted analysis of eligibility and beneficiary coverage, developing a robust communication strategy, enhancing stakeholder engagement, and leveraging communal aspects of payment days for information dissemination. Additionally, the government should improve the quantity and quality of human resources, increase program budgets, and prioritize advocacy for coordinated approaches to improve constraints such as road networks and internet connectivity. Finally, conducting a comprehensive assessment of delivery methods and developing a hybrid approach to enhance the accessibility of benefits for beneficiaries in remote areas is essential.

A Path Forward for Inclusive Social Protection

While Indonesia's social protection system has made notable progress, addressing the unique challenges faced by remote rural areas is crucial for ensuring inclusive and effective social protection coverage for all citizens. One significant challenge is the lack of disaggregated data to distinguish program coverage in remote and non-remote areas, hindering a complete understanding of coverage issues. Communication and outreach about program procedures are generally lacking, and the inaccessibility of locations significantly impedes program-related communications. Intake processes are also constrained by a supply-driven approach, subjectivity in decision-making, and limited awareness among potentially eligible households. Moreover, the assessment of needs and conditions in remote areas is hindered by homogeneous poverty conditions, a lack of remote-area specific variables, and outdated data. The implementation of PKH Akses, which was set up to address these issues, has not evolved since its inception. Uptake capacity is constrained by limited human and financial resources, weak supporting infrastructure, and inadequate budgets for monitoring and verification activities in remote areas.