This short note discusses the strange paradox between policy priority
given to poverty alleviation in Indonesia both by the Constitution and
the current government on the one hand and the confusions and delays
that have surrounded both the design and implementation of poverty
reduction policy on the other. It argues that much of what to do about
poverty was already well known in Indonesia even under the New Order,
which was widely praised for reducing poverty sharply from the mid
1970s onwards. Three factors make poverty a more complex policy problem
today. First, the advent of democracy has changed the definition of
what it is to be poor. This has raised the numbers needing government
support sharply. Second, free media and civil society has put the
interests of the majority in the spotlight. Third, the policy
instruments available to the government to quickly reduce poverty have
become fewer over time. Together, these factors have led to governments
making ambitious promises to the public, at a time when their control
over policy measures is becoming more limited.
Therefore, two things need to be done. Public expectations need to be
gently lowered on the one hand. At the same time, government needs to
work hard to enlarge the policy space to deal effectively with poverty
in difficult places and sectors.
The
purpose of this paper is to identify the nature of these concerns and
to find mechanisms that the donor community could employ to respond
creatively to the challenges that are likely to emerge in this domain.
