Minister of Social Affairs Explained PENA Program for Social Aid Recipients and Persons with Disabilities to OECD Director

PARIS (April 13, 2024) - At the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Infrastructure Forum, Wednesday (10/4) afternoon French time, after becoming the first speaker at the Plenary session and Discussion session on the second day, Social Affairs Minister Risma held a bilateral meeting with the Director of the OECD Development Center Ragnheidur Elin Arnadottir (Ragga), and OECD Director of Labor and Social Affairs Stefano Scarpetta. The meeting lasted for more than an hour.

The meeting was opened by Director Ragga by introducing Social Affairs Minister Risma to Director Stefano and the team. Director Rangga explained that Risma has contributed positively to many of the OECD Development Center's activities online and in person in Paris and Costa Rica, related to social inclusiveness, social impact start-ups, global value chains, and infrastructure.

Director Stefano shared the progress of Indonesia's process to become a member of the OECD, as well as the importance of achieving standards and consistency in their implementation. Stefano hoped for continuous communication between the OECD and Indonesia.

Minister of Social Affairs Risma emphasized more on the possibility of OECD support in the short term. To that end, Minister of Social Affairs Risma conveyed the progress of the community economic empowerment program through Pahlawan Ekonomi Nusantara (PENA) which began at the end of 2022 and has graduated (removed) 21,333 families out of poverty, which means they are no longer recipients of social assistance. Those who moved out of poverty included more than 3,500 families of people with disabilities.

Meanwhile, Director Ragga said that the context of changing the approach of providing social assistance to empowerment is definitely not easy for Indonesia because it has to transform the mindset, but it is also very interesting. He also said that as a member, Indonesia will have many allies to increase the scale of handling problems, such as PENA empowerment, and the best examples of handling that can be applied in the Indonesian context, or even Indonesia's experience, can be an example for OECD members later.

Ending her activities at OECD, Social Affairs Minister Risma gave souvenirs to Director Stefano, as well as Director Ragga and his staff. Director Rangga also said that he will soon organize a joint activity in Bali, Indonesia.