Creating budgets that work for everyone in society will accelerate gender equality in Indonesia

1. Strengthening gender analysis: Gender analysis is now recommended at the budget planning stage and every five years to ensure findings are integrated into lower-level budget programs. For example, in education, this can highlight lower enrollment and retention rates of girls in secondary education due to societal norms, early marriages, or household responsibilities, leading to targeted education programs to improve these rates.
2. Enhancing planning and accountability: Government’s strategic and annual work plans now need to clearly outline how they will achieve gender priorities. This includes incorporating gender-related programs and outputs into the national medium-term plan’s (RPJMN) task list.
3. Prioritizing key sectors and ministries: Focus on supporting GRB work in priority sectors where public expenditures can significantly reduce gender inequalities. For instance, in the health sector, efforts are directed at addressing high maternal mortality rates through targeted budgeting.
4. Building capacity: Provide key government institutions with the necessary skills to conduct gender analysis and incorporate gender considerations into budget programs.

We recognize the important role that collaboration and partnership play in advancing GRB as envisioned in the Government’s National Strategy to achieve the 2025 Golden Indonesia 2045 Vision. This is why the World Bank, the European Union, the Governments of Canada, and Switzerland, together with Indonesian ministries, are supporting the third phase of the Public Financial Management-Multi Donor Trust Fund program (PFM MDTF) (2020-2025), aimed at supporting the Government of Indonesia in improving the quality of revenue and expenditure policy and management in Indonesia. These initiatives align with the World Bank’s 2024-2030 Gender Strategy.

As part of the PFM MDTF, Ministry of Health, MOWECP, Bappenas and the World Bank piloted a project aimed at addressing Indonesia’s high Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), a critical gender challenge for the country. The pilot illustrated how GRB tools can be used to tackle specific gender issues.  

1. Strengthening gender analysis: We conducted an in-depth analysis of Indonesia’s high MMR. Our findings revealed an uneven distribution of midwives and obstetricians, particularly in rural areas. Many healthcare facilities are under-equipped to handle maternal emergencies, and there are delays in the referral system due to a lack of trained personnel.
2. Enhancing planning and accountability: We identified which existing policies and budget programs address key underlying issues. Further, we evaluated whether current funding levels are sufficient and determined how the budgets of the Ministry of Health and other ministries could better address the MMR.  
3. Developing targeted recommendations for integrating MMR-related actions into budget policies: Our recommendations included increasing funding for the recruitment, training, and deployment of skilled health workers in underserved regions; allocating resources for emergency obstetric care units; and establishing dedicated budget lines for maternal health emergency response in rural districts.

At this point, Bappenas, the Ministry of Health and other ministries are reviewing recommendations to improve their budget programs. Already, these results are being used to enhance the Key Health Strategy, making it more focused on reducing MMR through targeted budget expenditures. 

Picture 1: GRB Workshop on Gender Mainstreaming with the Ministry of Health

We appreciate that every country has its specific ways of integrating gender into public financial management processes. Indonesia has made significant strides with GRB. However, strengthening both the tools and results of GRB will further boost its efforts. This will have a positive impact on the future of the country’s development agenda, particularly in achieving outcomes for gender equality.