Currently, many people doubt that some of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets proclaimed by the Government will be difficult to achieve in 2015. One of the 2015 MDGs targets that is difficult to achieve is to reduce maternal mortality. The results of the 2012 Demographic and Health Survey conducted by the Central Statistical Agency (BPS), the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) and the National Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN) stated that the maternal mortality rate in childbirth in 2012 reached 349 per 100,000 live births and this figure increased sharply from 2007 which reached 228 per 100,000 live births. In fact, to achieve the 2015 MDGs on maternal health, Indonesia must reduce the maternal mortality rate to 102 per 100,000 live births in 2015.

For this reason, the Center for Research and Regional Information (PATTIRO) believes that the implementation of Gender Responsive Budgeting (ARG) will be able to accelerate or accelerate the achievement of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets. ARG is a budgeting process that involves women and men together with equal opportunities to actively participate in every stage of the budgeting, so as to pay attention to the equity of interests between these genders.

ARG will also provide space for the government to find out the focus of financing for marginal and disadvantaged groups regarding budget allocations, so that the application of ARG in preparing the budget will show the focus of areas that will be intervened by the MDGs work program prepared by the Government. The application of ARG will encourage the focus of intervention on the MDGs work program so that it will be according to needs and on target. With the application of the ARG in the preparation of the MDGs work program, the Government must determine in advance what the focus of the program is, so that the focus will become the targets for implementing activities.

By continuing to encourage the Government by many parties to meet the targets ahead of the 2015 MDGs, the application of ARG in preparing the budget will help the Government to determine the focuses that will become the targets of the Government’s MDGs program. For example, in compiling a program to minimize maternal and under-five mortality, the application of ARG will require activity implementers, in this case the Government, to be able to decide how many pregnant women and toddlers will be involved in the program, how wide the scope of the program’s work is, so that when the program will be implemented effectively and on target.

Therefore, according to PATTIRO, what the government needs to pay attention to in implementing ARG in preparing activity programs is the availability of sufficiently valid data. Fulfillment of this data is very significant level of urgency. With the availability of valid data, when counseling or socialization activities are carried out as part of program implementation, it will be possible to count how many pregnant women and how many mothers who have toddlers participate in the program.

As a first step for data availability and readiness, the Government can use BPS data whose level of validity is guaranteed by law. Furthermore, when the program is running, the Government can improve the data for their internal documentation, so that it is even more valid. Thus, when carrying out the next program of activities, the intervention of the program will become clearer, who and how many people will be included in the program. Data correction steps can be carried out by the relevant agencies by collecting data in stages starting from the bottom, namely starting from RT, RW, then continuing to the sub-district, sub-district, district to the provincial level. Community organizations such as Pos Yandu, PKK, Karang Taruna, are also effective enough to be involved in this tiered data collection.

PATTIRO hopes that with a more focused budget preparation as well as the implementation of ARG, the fulfillment of the nine targets of the 2015 MDGs can be accelerated. Because, the fulfillment of the MDGs targets is not only determined by the size of the budget, but the allocation of budget preparation and use must also be fulfilled, so that program implementation and use of the budget will be effective and on target.

November 18, 2013

Sad Dian Utomo | PATTIRO Executive Director
saddian@pattiro.org | 0812 800 3045

Contact Person: Agus Salim
agus@pattiro.org | 081 399 777721