Papua Makes Significant Progress With Family Planning

JAKARTA, Aug 30 (Antara) - The Indonesian easternmost province of Papua has made a significant progress with family planning program with an increasing number of Family Planning Village, or Kampung KB, in a number of districts. According to local National Demography and Family Planning Office (BKKBN) spokesman Charles Brabar, the number of Kampung KB in Papua continues to grow in line with the Nawacita Program of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to build Indonesia from the rural areas. Charles remarked in Biak, Papua, on Tuesday, that until the end of August 2017, there have been 29 Kampung KB in almost all districts in the province of Papua. The presence of the family planning villages in some districts in Papua, according to Charles, has provided an understanding for both the pregnant women and those who have just given birth to regularly check their health at the health integrated service posts, or Posyandu. Indonesia has launched the Kampung KB as part of its efforts to revitalize the national family planning program that will help improve the health of its citizens. Family planning program in Indonesia has become a role model for many developing countries after it succeeded in reducing total fertility rates and population growth. But in the the past several years, the country's family planning program did not see any significant progress, and needed to be revitalized through the Kampung KB program. Kampung KB is a miniscule part of guiding demographic changes in a progressive fashion. Family planning and family development programs must involve all elements in the National Demography and Family Planning Agency. Through the Kampung KB, the government wants to enhance public awareness about the importance of family planning as its benefits extend beyond just a womans health to her entire well-being and prosperity. When couples choose to have smaller families, it also ensures that they will enough means to provide for them and build a more prosperous future not only for themselves, but for the entire nation. Accordingly, all villages need to have Kampung KB to support the success of family planning program. This will result in a better quality of life and will also help underprivileged families. "Kampung KB is designed to be a model of integrated development pertaining to the population, and will be implemented at the micro level," BKKBN Head Surya Chandra Surapaty said some time ago. The family planning program is expected to further improve the welfare of the community and to break the chain of poverty. According to him, the family planning will also result in people paying more attention to aspects such as the ideal age for marriage, ideal distance between child births, the number of children, expenses required for education and health of the entire family. Moreover, some years down the lane, Indonesia will be able to reap the demographic bonus, a condition where it will have more people in the productive bracket than unproductive citizens, such as the elderly and children. Of course, even a demographic bonus can turn into a disaster unless it is properly controlled with good planning. The transmigration program, long out of the spotlight, needs to be revived. Transmigration is important for Indonesia as the country has a high rate of population number explosion. Transmigration is proven to have made a considerable contribution to the economic growth in various areas that were not too well populated. On the other hand, demographic bonus can lead to better economic development and progress in the fields of agriculture and industry. The government and the younger generation must be prepared for the demographic bonus that Indonesia is predicted to witness after 2020. The demographic bonus can act as a good capital, and can lead to growth of the creative economy sector, Association of Young Indonesian Businessmen (Hipmi) Chairman Anggawira has said. "The more the number of people of productive age in Indonesia, the more the number of internet users. This will increase the ability to create value-added products with high quality," he noted. Indonesia's creative economy will become more strong as a result of demographic bonus and high penetration of internet, according to him. The creative economy sector is expected to become the mainstay of Indonesia's sustainable sector in the future. The Ministry of Research Technology and Higher Education has a mission to build Indonesia through competitiveness. Demographic bonus can have a positive impact on national development so long as correct economic policies are put in place, Vice President Jusuf Kalla has said. The growth of population in a country may not always prove to be a burden as long as the government is able to implement a sound development policy, Kalla explained. China's huge population in the past was considered a burden but now the country has realized that a huge population could be made productive, and at the same time also become consumers, the Vice President said, also citing the example of Singapore. India has also based its policy on the same idea that a large population could be an asset that works in favor of the country's development. "Singapore used to give incentives to a mother who decided not to have children but now it provides an allowance for mothers who have children," Kalla said. In view of that, he expressed the hope that the huge population of Indonesia should become a factor in expeditious national development. The vice president has said that the 255 million population of the country must be turned into a workforce with high productivity, and at the same time, into consumers. But he added that it all depends upon how the country can manage the population to make it an asset rather than a liability.