TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

West Papua nabs double accolades

The eastern province of West Papua has claimed two trophies for speeding up its achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which are set to conclude in 2015

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Wed, April 30, 2014

Share This Article

Change Size

West Papua nabs double accolades

T

he eastern province of West Papua has claimed two trophies for speeding up its achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which are set to conclude in 2015.

National Development Planning Minister Armida Alisjahbana, alongside the president'€™s special envoy for MDGs, Nila Moeloek, handed out the MDG awards on Tuesday at the 2014 National Development Pre-Assembly closing ceremony in Jakarta.

West Papua won the MDG award for the Fastest Poverty Rate Reduction measured during the 2011-2013 period, outpacing neighboring Papua in second place and North Maluku in third.

According to 2013 statistics by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), West Papua'€™s percentage of poor people fell 1.16 percent from 28.2 percent in 2011 to 27.04 percent in 2012.

The province, formed in January 2003, also won third place in Best Progress in Achieving the MDGs for the same three-year period. It was beaten by second place Southeast Sulawesi and last year'€™s winner, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).

In 2011, the Human Development Index was 69.65 in West Papua, 70.55 in Southeast Sulawesi and 66.23 in NTB.

Meanwhile, Yogyakarta leapfrogged Bali and Jakarta to win the award for Best Achievement. Last year, Jakarta won the honor and Bali placed second. The Bali administration, however, played down its loss.

'€œThis award is an honor for Bali, but more importantly, it shows how the implementation of our programs could be felt by the people,'€ said Bali Development Planning Board (Bappeda) head Putu Astawa after the awards ceremony, as quoted by Antara news agency.

MDGs secretariat representative from the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), Arum Atmawikarta, elaborated on how each province was rated for the award categories.

'€œFor instance, the MDG award for Fastest Poverty Reduction was measured using combined figures from the poverty line percentage, poverty gap index and the proportion of people consuming less than the minimum calorie intake of 1,400 kilocalories per capita per day,'€ Arum told The Jakarta Post, adding that each award category used a percentage scale from 0 to 1.

Nila, who led the 10-member independent team that assessed and determined the award winners, revealed that the scores for each province were a composite of statistics published by the BPS from 2011 through 2013.

Nila added that the scores were relative to those currently pursuing the MDG targets.

'€œSo even though Jakarta has achieved more indicators, it wouldn'€™t necessarily win an award due to the plateauing rate of improvement,'€ she told the Post.

Minister Armida said regions needed to overcome weak bureaucracy to achieve the MDG targets.

'€œFor public services to be effective [in the regions], there must be bureaucratic reform,'€ Armida said. She added that Indonesia had long joined world commitments to the MDG program, which revolved around poverty reduction, gender equality, level of education, clean water and quality sanitation, among other things.

She added that Indonesia was still lagging behind in health, especially with its high maternal mortality rate '€” the highest in the region, with 359 women dying for every 100,000 live births.

'€œThe maternal mortality rate
is not only a central government issue but it also affects local governments and households. That and difficult access to health facilities like community health centers [Puskesmas],'€ she said.

The MDG award ceremony concludes Wednesday with the announcement of the award for Most MDG Indicators Achieved in the last three years. Last year, NTB was awarded for achieving the most MDG indicators for the period of 2010-2012. (tjs)

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.