“Realizing Innovative and Integrative Treatment of Elderly Issues”

The 2010 population census results put Indonesia in the fifth rank of countries with the highest elderly population or ranked fourth in Asia after India, China, and Japan. For developing countries like Indonesia, this aging population poses a very complex challenge compared to developed countries. Uniquely, the study results show the active aging index of the Indonesian employment domain is high in the world. The question: are Indonesian elderly people really active or conditioned to be active in terms of social security?

The Government of Indonesia stated in the 2015-2019 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) that in the field of social welfare, the target to achieve in the 2015-2019 period is to increase access and quality of life of the elderly where the elderly the national policy direction is specifically focused on strengthening social protection schemes for them. Will Indonesia be able to manage resources to deal with the rapidly growing elderly population in an innovative and integrative way? Of course, this is a joint task and a common concern by all components of the Nation.

In order to realize this joint effort and the common concerns, the SurveyMETER Research Institute, as an institution concerned with the issue of aging and population aging, held a One-Day Workshop "ELDERLY AND THE AGE OF INDONESIAN POPULATION". It is supported by the Knowledge Sector Initiative (KSI), Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) of Australia.

It was held at the Jogjakarta Plaza Hotel on Tuesday, April 7, 2015. It aims to share information and discuss issues related to the rights and social protection of the elderly, as well as to formulate breakthroughs in innovative and coordinated care for the elderly. The workshop was encapsulated as a discussion forum in five sessions of exposure and discussion on the empirical research results related to active elderly people in Indonesia from the government, elderly practitioners, and other stakeholders' perspectives.

Workshop participants came from various elements of the government, academics, practitioners, observers, and knowledge sector institutions that care about the problems of aging in Indonesia. Dr. Aris Ananta, Firman Witoelar, Ph.D., Prof. Dr. Tri Budi W. Rahardjo, Prof. Mayling Oey Gardiner, Ph.D., and Prof. Dr. Clara Melyanti Kusharto, Dra. Eva AJ Sabdono, MBA, Prof. Dr. Fasli Jalal Ph.D., and Dr. Evi Nurvidya Arifin were among the presenters and moderators. (JF)