Improving the Welfare of Indonesian
Unlocking Potential with Prof. Bambang Brodjonegoro
The Indonesian government, since 2015, has been committed to implementing the global agenda of sustainable development goals. In the United Nations General Assembly, Indonesia with 159 other countries. As yet, Indonesia’s sustainable development goals have been rolling and showing promising results. How does the Indonesian government keep these sustainable goals in the future despite the challenges?
In this episode of Unlocking Potential: Improving the Welfare of Indonesian, CEO Global Tanoto Foundation, Dr. J. Satrijo Tanudjojo discussed the goals and implementation of Sustainable Development Goals in Indonesia with Prof. Bambang Brodjonegoro. They also discussed how the pandemic of COVID-19 has affected the SDGs progress towards the year of 2030.
Prioritizing the SDGs in Indonesia
The SDGs were derived from the Millenium Development Goals set in early 2000. However, a review conducted in 2015 showed that some of the Millennium Development Goals did not succeed in being sustainable.
Sustainable Development Goals aim to create a better world by ending poverty, fighting inequality, and addressing the urgency of climate change. In the past, the issue of sustainability only revolved around the environmental issue. However, this time, the issue of sustainability expands into 17 global goals of development.
The Indonesian government is aware of this matter. It has issued a presidential decree, a policy regarding implementing Sustainable Development Goals (Perpres №59/2017) as part of a commitment to improving the quality of life. Not just a presidential decree, but the government had also created strategies, programs, and activities to support SDGs. Two of the achievements of the Indonesian government are in 2017 and 2019 at the annual UN session, Indonesia was selected as one of the best 6 countries in the VNR (Voluntary National Review).
Yet, the journey to improve life for Indonesians is still long. The government should prioritize what is essential amongst the 17 goals. In the conversation with Dr. J. Satrijo Tanudjojo, Prof. Bambang Brodjonegoro suggested three goals are still relevant for Indonesia. The three goals are goals no. 1: No Poverty, goals no. 10: reduced inequality and goals. 13: climate action. “Because the achievements of the three goals show the balance between economic, social and environmental,” he said.
To achieve the three points, the government also needs to lay the foundation to reduce poverty and inequality by providing better health facilities and access to education. By having access to both of them, people can work and improve their welfare.
Pandemic, digitalization, and adaptability
To ensure the sustainability of the progress, Prof. Bambang also mentioned adaptability. Pandemic has shifted the way of life. Pandemic forced us to adapt to digital channels. “Digital transformation is happening rapidly, we should try to keep education sustainable through online learning. Therefore we need to equip teachers with knowledge of technology urgently. Even when the pandemic is over, the learning will change forever to hybrid learning.”
To support this goal, Tanoto Foundation just launched a digital platform for teachers and students. It’s one of Tanoto Foundation’s visions that education is a crucial tool in creating equal opportunity.
No one is left behind.
Sustainable economic, social, and environmental growth is the key for a developing country to become a prosperous country. To achieve that, SDGs should become an agenda for governments and private sectors. “Changing their business model to include the SDGs in their programs will improve people’s welfare for the better in the long term.
Tanoto Foundation acknowledges the urgency of achieving SDGs. Hence, in 2019, together with UNDP, Tanoto Foundation launched SDG Academy.SDG Academy is an institution to assist Indonesian Indonesian SDG stakeholders (government, academia, private sector, philanthropy, civil society and media) in developing relevant policies or programs using the SDG framework.
Listen on Spotify, to learn more about SDGs progress in Indonesia.