2019 – Spotlight Report on SDG-4 Implementation Status in Indonesia

Indonesia, a vast archipelago comprising more than 17,000 islands, contains a population numbering around 269 million people; a number that makes Indonesia the fourth most populous country in the world. These impressive numbers also imply that significant cultural, ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity can expected to be found within its boundaries, ranging from the daily Hindu rituals practiced on the island of Bali to the prevalence of Islamic sharia law in Aceh (Sumatra) or the semi-nomadic huntergatherer lifestyles of the Mentawai people.

Indonesia is situated in one of the world’s most active disaster hotspots and is at high risk of a variety of natural hazards, including earthquake, tsunami, volcanic eruption, flood, landslide, drought and forest fires. Of 34 provinces in Indonesia, 30 are in high risk and four are in medium risk zones. Most disasters affect schools. During the period of 2016-2018, major disasters affected more than 41,000 schools in Indonesia.

Being located on the Pacific Ring of Fire (an area with a high degree of tectonic activity), Indonesia has to cope with the constant risk of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods and tsunamis. On several occasions during the past 20 years, Indonesia has made global headlines due to devastating natural disasters that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of human and animal lives, plus having a destructive effect on the land area (including infrastructure, and thus resulting in economic costs). Therefore, many school infrastructures were damaged and school dropouts were caused by disasters.

On the other hand, despite facing those challenges, Indonesia has a good progress in reducing poverty. Poverty in Indonesia declined to the lowest level ever in March 2018 (Indonesia’s Central Statistics Agency, or BPS, releases poverty figures twice per year, covering the months March and September). Based on the latest data, Indonesia’s relative poverty figure fell to 9.82 percent of the total population. Thus, 25.95 million Indonesians are now categorized as poor.

Download: 2019 – Spotlight Report on SDG-4 Implementation Status in Indonesia