Poverty reduction strategies in the regional and local autonomy period in Indonesia

Surjono Surjono, University of Queensland
Basil van Horen, University of Queensland
Ann Peterson, University of Queensland

The paper, a case study in East Java Province, aims to contribute to the current state of knowledge of poverty reduction, in terms of balancing assets and strengthening capacity of the local level. The main reason is that despite remarkable achievements in economic development and well-being in Indonesia over the past 30 years, poverty continues to be an inexcusable problem. Two significant problems in Indonesia’s decentralization period that the study deals with are: the failure of Indonesia’s planning framework to develop effective poverty reduction strategies and limited capacity of local governments to meet their responsibilities in accordance with the 1999 Regional Autonomy Law. The paper demonstrates that those problems should be addressed through the articulation of the social dimension under the broad objectives of sustainable development; formulation of the new poverty indicators, using the P-S-R framework; and formulation of an integrated poverty reduction strategy in the local planning framework.