Jakarta (VNA) – The Indonesian Government aims to graduate 300,000 beneficiary families from the Family Hope Programme (PKH) by 2026 so they can become independent and no longer rely on social assistance, the country’s Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf has said.
This year, 77,000 families have graduated from the programme, meeting the government's target for 2025, Yusuf added.
Graduated families will participate in empowerment programmes under the Coordinating Ministry for Community Empowerment, designed to develop them into self-reliant and economically empowered households.
Yusuf said the Indonesian Government is committed to eliminating extreme poverty by 2026 and reducing the national poverty rate to 5% by 2029 through collaboration across ministries and other stakeholders.
Currently, about 8.4 million poor and vulnerable families receive social protection, while 1.3 million receive direct cash assistance. More than 96 million residents now have access to free healthcare through the national health insurer, according to the Social Affairs Ministry.
In the people's economy sector, roughly 3.7 million small traders, stalls, and start-up entrepreneurs have received financing. Over 12 million creative economy players, cooperatives, migrant workers, and MSMEs now access upskilling programmes to move to higher economic tiers.
Indonesia has increased the budget for two social programmes, the PKH and basic food assistance, from 71 trillion IDR to 110 trillion IDR (6.6 billion USD). The minister noted that the scope of social protection programmes has been significantly expanded, rising from 21 million beneficiary households to over 35 million./.
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