Report
2024 sectoral budget briefs and notes
The Government of Indonesia (GoI) is committed to realizing children’s rights and enabling them to grow as future productive citizens, as articulated in its National Medium-Term Development Plan 2020–2024. Moreover, in the past two decades, Indonesia has made impressive economic progress to drive more than half of...
Report
Indonesia adolescent health profile 2024
With nearly 46 million adolescents, Indonesia faces growing health challenges, particularly from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), mental health disorders and injury-related risks. Suicide is among the top five causes of adolescent mortality, while tobacco use and e-cigarette consumption continue to rise. The avai...
Article
A future without cervical cancer: Protecting Indonesia’s girls through HPV immunization
In a small community on the outskirts of Makassar, South Sulawesi, 47-year-old Yuli Yanti sits with her daughter and nieces, reflecting on the sudden news that changed her life and sent shockwaves through her family. She recalls the early symptoms of illness—heavy bleeding and pain – accompanied by months of unce...
Article
Fathers as champions: Breaking gender barriers for immunization in Papua
On a quiet afternoon in the hills of Pegunungan Arfak Regency, West Papua, David Saiba stands before a group of fathers gathered in the hall of Simon Hungku Church. A respected community figure and local facilitator, David is here to talk about something that many of these men have never considered their responsib...
Article
A Midwife’s Mission: Saving Lives in West Lombok
At Patut Patuh Patju Hospital in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province, a profound transformation is underway. Health workers are not just treating patients, they are reshaping the future of health care for mothers and children. At the forefront of this change is Ibu Desak, a midwife who has dedicated nearly 30 years ...
Article
A leap forward in neonatal care
Despite Indonesia’s notable 64.1 per cent reduction in neonatal mortality since 1990, the country still faces challenges, particularly in managing critically ill infants. With a neonatal mortality rate lower than 15 per 1,000 live births in 2021 – approximately 50,000 neonatal deaths 1 – the nation is striving t...
Article
Women pull out the stops to combat polio in Central Java
In the bustling cities of Semarang and Pekalongan in Central Java, women from diverse walks of life are fighting against a once-forgotten foe: polio. They are united in their determination to protect as many children as possible from the debilitating disease. After the Central Java health authority detected a conf...
Report
Social determinants influencing access to malaria services
This report consists of two parts, presenting the main findings of formative research undertaken in 2021 by Empatika for UNICEF. The research aimed to understand the factors affecting access to malaria services in high-endemic settings and to support the search for local solutions to intransigent behavior change c...
Article
North Sumatra's Health Heroes Learn Vaccine Management Skills
Ratna Dewi Sinaga, age 52, an immunization coordinator in Batu Bara district, North Sumatra Province, has dedicated her life to children in her hometown for the past 17 years. When Ratna started her role in 2006, she faced an immediate challenge during the first national immunization week in Indonesia. Tasked wi...
Article
A milestone in Madura
As 2023 was coming to a close, one family’s life took a tragic turn. A young child in the Central Java province of Indonesia – who had just returned from visiting Madura in the East Java province – contracted polio. The case led to outbreak responses in both provinces, and a race against time to vaccinate millions...
Article
Breathe easy: East Java pursues smoke-free schools
In the tobacco-filled landscape of East Java, 16-year-olds Aisya Nur Jannah and Naufal Rifki Ramadhan, students of Annur Islamic Boarding School in Malang District are trying to change the norms they grew up with. Against the odds, in an environment that normalizes smoking, they are choosing a different path. “I ...
Article
How to build your baby's mental health
New babies are a lot of work, and parents experience a wide range of emotions when they have a new baby. They feel joy, frustration, fatigue and nervousness. There's no reason to be frightened of having mixed emotions about a new baby. When should I start thinking about my baby's mental health? How can I promote p...