From Pasuruan City to Indonesia – achieving universal birth registration

By Felice Bakker, Child Protection Officer (JPO)

Major of Pasuruan City, Mr. Setiyono, provides birth certificates at a health clinic. ©UNICEF Australia / 2016 / Alice Hall 

Pasuruan City has been able to increase its birth registration rate from 46% in 2013 to 94% in 2016. Or to be more precise to 94.69% - as of 1:30 pm on the 20th of August 2016. That is the figure shown on the mobile app which is consistently monitored by the Head of the Civil Registration Office, Mr. Boedi Widayat MM. How has Pasuruan City become so successful?

Let me first start by introducing Pasuruan City and the reason for my visit. Pasuruan City in East Java belongs to one of six districts where UNICEF, since 2014, has been piloting a new approach to achieving universal birth registration based on the motto: “Ensuring every child counts”. The project is financed by UNICEF’s Australian National Committee and I had the opportunity to accompany the Committee during their recent visit to see first-hand the results of the work that has taken place.

With funding from the Australian National Committee, UNICEF has been supporting the six districts in promoting universal birth registration. The pilot aims to decentralize services at the sub-district and village level; establish an online registration system for new-borns in hospital/maternity clinics; and establish various mechanisms to address late registration, for example through schools. These steps are taken to contribute to improving Indonesia’s Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) system.

The Civil Registration Office uses the latest version of the SIAK, an information system which enables them not only to monitor and analyse the registration of births, marriages and deaths, but also to check for example which registered girl below the age of 18 is listed as married on her household card (KK).  They are currently testing the linkages between the SIAK data and a unified database on poverty alleviation. Soon they aim to also link SIAK with education as well as social and health data. The dream is that the “population data can be used to improve the health and well-being of all people”, explained Mr. Boedi Widayat MM. The impact of analysing such data can be immense and determine future programming and development for Pasuruan City and its people.

To achieve its goal of universal registration, no challenge is too big for the staff of the Civil Registration Office. However, this ambitious target poses a demanding task as there are children who are more difficult to identify and to register. These are the vulnerable children, children living in institutions, children living on the street, children from female-headed households, etc. But even for these difficult cases the staff of the registration office always try to find a solution because they believe it is their “duty is to serve the people”, stressed Mr. Boedi Widayat MM.

 The Head of the Civil Registration Office, Mr. Boedi, provides a birth certificate during a mobile registration event. ©UNICEF Australia / 2016 / Alice Hall

I saw the positive impact of the new approach when an elderly lady came to register her 14-year old granddaughter. During the conversation with the staff at the registration office it became clear that the girl was not attending school because her grandmother could not afford the related costs such as books and transportation. The Civil Registration Office took down her details to relay to the Education Office and informed her of the school support programme that she would be eligible for. The lady came to register her granddaughter but now will also be able to send her back to school.

After each activity the team evaluates the results and discusses how they can further improve their services.  Even though, the mobile registration at the village level was successful in registering over 100 children between 0 and 18, the staff understands that this approach is not sustainable - and should be taken as an intermediary solution. The aim is to strengthen the village registration offices to be able to register children at the village level without external support.

Pasuruan City is also very committed to share its experience and learnings with other districts and cities in Indonesia. Visits from two districts in Aceh are already in the pipeline and UNICEF is working closely with the office to develop a case study that can be distributed nationally. This is exactly the concept of up-stream work that UNICEF focuses on in Indonesia: piloting strategies, documenting their success, and encouraging the Government to replicate nationally.

The success and ability of Pasuruan City to lead the development of universal birth registration for the rest of Indonesia can best be expressed through the tagline “from Pasuruan to Indonesia”.

Pasuruan City was recognized recently by the Ministry of Home Affairs for achieving the birth registration target of the national development plan RPJMN ahead of time. But 94.69% is not good enough yet, explained Mr. Boedi Widayat MM. “Our target is to register all children aged 0 to 18 by end 2017. All means 100%”, he said.

Protecting children through birth registration

By Kristi Eaton, UNICEF Indonesia Communication and Knowledge Management Officer

Siti Mariyam, head of the division of Civil Registration (left), reads over the birth certificate to new parents, Rahardi Joko Suparno and Riya Ulfa Radila. © UNICEF/2016/Kristi Eaton

The husband and wife sit quietly at the health post, grinning wildly at their new-born baby, born just six days earlier. A few minutes later they are handed little Raka Maliki’s birth certificate and the smiles grow even wider.

“This is a legal document,” says the father, Rahardi Joko Suparno. “It’s true. It shows this is my child. He will now be able to go to school and have a future.”

Birth certificates are a basic human right and a necessity for obtaining education, employment, health benefits and more. It also protects the child from falling victim to trafficking. But many people in Indonesia do not understand or know the process to register the birth of their child and obtain a certificate. That’s why UNICEF offers technical support to the local government to increase outreach services for registration and establish online services at maternity hospitals, community health posts and village offices.

Launch of the Integrated Child and Family Welfare Services – A Dream Coming True

By Astrid Gonzaga Dionisio, Child Protection Specialist

Vice Mayor of Tulungagung (sixth from the right) with the Vice Chairperson of the Parliament (third from the left) and heads of agencies (from Left: Head of Women Empowerment, Child Protection and Family Planning; Head of Bappeda; Chairperson of East Java Provincial LPA; Head of Sub-Directorate for Neglected Children, Directorate of Child Welfare, the Ministry of Social Affairs; Director of Public Hospital; Astrid Dionisio – Child Protection Specialist and I Made Sutama, Child of Field Office from UNICEF; Head of Social Welfare Office; and Secretary of the local Government of Tulungagung. © UNICEF/2015/Astrid Dionisio

I have been to Tulungagung in East Java before. But this time, the excitement of my trip has been different. It was like a dream come true.

Developing a child protection system was once a big dream. Figuring it out was already complicated but not until recently when the district of Tulungagung, East Java, has finally launched the first model of an integrated child and family welfare services - the Unit Layanan Terpadu Perlindungan Sosial Anak Integratif (PSAI).  The road was not smooth, and the journey was long. Tulungagung is one of the districts in East Java  known to be one of the major sending areas for female migrant workers, commonly referred to as "buruh migran perempuan."

In 2011, UNICEF Indonesia embraced a new approach to child protection focusing on system building. From then on UNICEF together with the Ministry of Planning (Bappenas) and the Ministry of Social Affairs initiated processes toward developing a comprehensive child protection system locally known as SPA (Sistem Perlindungan Anak).

Sulaeha’s story: Saving lives in Sumenep

Sulaeha is a mother of three from Sumenep in East Java. She has always been concerned about the welfare of not only her family but also her wider community. So Sulaeha recently decided to become a health volunteer.

“Just because I am not a trained health worker, does not mean I cannot help improve the health of children in my area,” Sulaeha says. “What I can do is help back-up important health facts with religious content.”

Sulaeha is the daughter of a respected religious leader and an active member of Fatayat – the women’s sub-unit of the Islamic organisation Nadhlatul Ulama, the largest Islamic organisations in the world with around 80 million members. So she has a broad knowledge of the Islamic religion.

Sulaeha runs health workshops in her local mosque ©UNICEF Indonesia/2015

Sulaeha’s volunteer role is to convince parents that immunisation is not only critical for their children but also in line with Islamic teachings. This is very important in an area like Sumenep, where a large majority of people follow Islam.

“Smile” for immunisation

Nur Awwalia and her Immunisation Wall of Fame. © UNICEF Indonesia/2015

The walls of the Tanah Merah Bangkalan Health Centre on Madura Island in East Java have all the usual posters expected in a health clinic. But one stands out. It’s a plain white board lined with photos of 25 smiling babies.

Each baby has completed their five stages of immunisation – five free immunisation sessions which mean they are safe from diseases including diphtheria, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, tetanus, polio and measles.

A midwife at the centre, Nur Awwalia, recently came up with the idea for the poster. “Every parent likes to show off their baby. So why not use this to promote immunisation!” she says.

Sports for Development

Millions of eyes will be on Brazil this week when the international footballing elite meet for the World Cup finals. Football is hugely popular in many countries and there’s no doubt that sport is a unifying force. But not every child has access to physical education, games and sports. In Indonesia, traditionally most schools do not consider physical education a priority. Children with special needs are often unable to take part in the sports on offer. And many teachers think cleaning or gardening are adequate “sports” for girls.

Playing sports and games is good for children’s health. It also teaches skills like team work and improves speed, agility and perception. Four years ago, UNICEF, in cooperation with the Ministry of National Education, began work to improve access to inclusive physical education, sports and play in Indonesia. The Sports for Development programme was introduced in one district in each of four different provinces - Jakarta, West Java, East Java and South Sulawesi.

UNICEF has helped to train teachers from these provinces in how to build sports into the school timetable. The teachers have been introduced to games which special needs pupils and other students can play together. They have also learned how to make sports equipment out of cheap, readily available materials. UNICEF is producing a number of materials so that the Sports for Development programme can be replicated in other districts across the country.