Enviro News Asia, Jakarta – Minister of Social Affairs (Mensos) Saifullah Yusuf, also known as Gus Ipul, has invited Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni to collaborate in addressing poverty in Indonesia. This collaboration will focus on empowering communities that have graduated from various programs under the Ministry of Forestry.
“We want the groups here (vulnerable, poor, and extremely poor) to be empowered through programs available in ministries such as the Ministry of Forestry,” said Gus Ipul at the Ministry of Forestry office in Jakarta on Thursday (3/27/2025), as stated in a press release.
Gus Ipul explained that the data on vulnerable, poor, and extremely poor groups will be based on the National Socioeconomic Single Data (DTSEN). He stated that information about communities that have graduated from social assistance programs will be handed over to the Ministry of Forestry for further empowerment, enabling them to become more independent and less reliant on social aid.
According to Gus Ipul, the Ministry of Forestry will focus on empowering residents living around forest areas, with the expectation that this initiative will help reduce poverty.
“We will jointly select members of the poor communities around forests who are capable of engaging in forestry-based economic activities. Their empowerment will be entrusted to you, Minister, in accordance with the Ministry of Forestry’s programs. If this initiative runs effectively, the number of poor people will decrease,” said Saifullah Yusuf.
Furthermore, Gus Ipul emphasized that this step follows the directives of President Prabowo Subianto. He mentioned that Prabowo has set a national poverty reduction target of below 5% by 2029 and aims to eradicate extreme poverty by 2026.
“This is roughly our task, Minister. We seek your support and assistance in providing any opportunities for empowerment,” said Gus Ipul.
On the same occasion, Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni welcomed the initiative and assured that his ministry would coordinate with the Ministry of Social Affairs to follow up on the plan.
“So, I think we will meet again later. Let’s schedule another meeting once everything is well-prepared so we can finalize an MoU. When we meet for the MoU, we will already have the data on how many people we can work on together,” said Raja Juli.
