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Melinda Gates praises Indonesia’s e-money aid programs
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Melinda Gates, the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (second right), along with other speakers, discuss issues surrounding family planning during the National Adolescent Summit in Yogyakarta on Thursday. Gates told the audience that early marriage can become an obstacle for women to reach higher education. (JP/Bambang Muryanto)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had the opportunity to discuss the government’s poverty-eradication programs with Melinda Gates, the co-chair and trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, during their meeting on Thursday in Jakarta.
In the meeting, which took place before the president’s visit to Riau Islands, Jokowi told Gates about the government’s social assistance, which is mostly disbursed in the form of e-money.
The programs include the Indonesia Smart Card (KIP), the Indonesia Health Card (KIS) and the Family Hope Program (PKH). The government distributes the cards to eligible recipients of the programs who can obtain the aid through ATMs.
Gates praised the programs after listening to Jokowi’s explanation.
“We have learned so much from our visit to Indonesia over these past couple of days. We might adopt Indonesian programs and implement them in other countries,” she said.
Gates said the foundation was willing to support the e-money programs by boosting the coverage of mobile banking in the country so that the number of people who have bank accounts can increase from 36 percent to 75 percent of the population.
Under the upcoming program those who live far from bank branches will be able to open and access bank accounts through mobile phones. (rdi/wit)
