JAKARTA – Six parliamentarians from Europe went on a study tour in Indonesia from 21 to 27 August to examine the country’s family planning and reproductive health policies. Jointly organized by the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development (EPF), the Indonesian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development, Countdown 2015 Europe, and the UNFPA Offices in Geneva and Indonesia, the tour emphasized field project visits.
In Yogyakarta, participants visited health centres providing free reproductive health services and supplies. They also went to temporary shelters for people affected by Mount Merapi’s volcanic eruption last year, and met with NGOs that provide counselling services to young people and women who experienced domestic violence.
Participants learned that while Indonesia’s family planning policy has a successful track record, including effective state leadership and cooperation with the religious leaders, most services in the country are geared towards married couples and are not accessible to unmarried young people. They observed that due to decentralization in the country, much of the population expertise that the central government used to possess has been lost at provincial and district levels. This could lead to faster population growth, threatening Indonesia’s poverty reduction strategies.
They also found that Indonesia’s maternal mortality rates are persistently high and that the country still has not adopted coherent guidelines on midwifery. The parliamentarians called for continued advocacy efforts and international support to ensure the success of reproductive health and family planning policies.
Parliamentarians from Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Ireland, Portugal and the United Kingdom took part in the study tour. The delegation also stopped in Jakarta to meet with their counterparts and representatives of donor agencies.
For more information, please contact:
EPF: Eddie Wright, eddie@epfweb.org, or Marina Davidashvili, marina@epfweb.org
UNFPA: William A. Ryan, ryanw@unfpa.org
