Family planning programs not being prioritized: Official

As Indonesia realizes its population may be bigger than previously expected, proponents of birth control programs in the regions are working to make family planning a top priority among other championed tasks such as infrastructure development and education.

The situation, however, is not easy for everyone.

“We only have one staff member in our division,” Pontianak Family Planning Agency chief Arismawati told The Jakarta Post during a workshop on population issues recently in Jakarta.

Only four staff at the regency administration work on the family planning program, she said.

The program is also assisted by around 45 field officers, but these officers required more funding for data collection because currently they only received Rp 15,000 (US$16) for each neighborhood they work in, Arismawati said.

The region’s population currently stands at around 634,000. Covering an area of 107 square kilometers, its population density is about 6,000 people per kilometer square.

City secretary Toni Herianto said prioritizing family planning was often seen as a “dilemma” amid other priorities such as infrastructure.

Last month, Central Statistics Agency (BPS) chief Rusman Heriawan said the national census, which was carried out in June, had revealed that Indonesia’s population could reach 238 million, 4-5 million more than previous estimates.

Pontianak’s population, for example, was growing at 2 percent a year, Toni said.

The city’s contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) was 48 percent, while the percentage of unmet need (referring to those who were willing to take part in the family planning program but were deferred because of inaccessibility or other technical issues) was 19.7 percent.

Arismawati said this figure once stood at 11 percent when the family planning program was carried out more rigorously.

Aside from a lack of funds, another obstacle to promoting the family planning program was cultural elements, Toni said. “Some residents don’t believe family planning is necessary,” he said.

After the Soeharto regime was toppled, family planning, which had been one of the champion issues of the former president’s development programs, was left somewhat neglected.

Edi Siswandi, the head of the Family Planning and Women’s Empowerment division of Bandung regency administration, said field officers in the area, whose population stands at more than three million, currently had to handle three villages each because some officers had retired. “Ideally one officer should handle one village,” he said.

“We have to convince local leaders that family planning is important,” he said.

Esty Febriani from John Hopkins University conducted research in Pontianak and Bandung, West Java, and found that the decision-making process in budget allocation for family planning programs was often complex and time consuming.

The amount allocated to family planning operations was also relatively small, she said.