Central Java wins Mandaya Award as top province for poverty reduction

Semarang (ANTARA) – The Central Java Provincial Government has received the 2026 Mandaya Award from the Coordinating Ministry for Community Empowerment in the category of Best Provincial Government in Poverty Reduction.

Central Java Governor Ahmad Luthfi accepted the award at the Mandaya Award presentation ceremony in Jakarta. The province shared the category with Lampung, Gorontalo and South Sumatra.

In a statement issued in Semarang on Tuesday, Luthfi said the award recognised Central Java’s efforts to alleviate poverty through various means, including community empowerment.

“Central Java Province has received the Mandaya Award, as one of the provinces committed to poverty alleviation and community empowerment,” he said.

Data show that Central Java’s poverty rate stood at 9.21 per cent in March 2026, equivalent to 3.29 million people. This was down 0.18 percentage points from 9.39 per cent in September 2025.

Luthfi said the progress needed to be sustained through collaboration among stakeholders, including the provincial and regency/municipal governments, village administrations, ministries and government agencies. He also cited the Central Java branch of the National Alms Agency (Baznas), private-sector corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes and the Kecamatan Berdaya programme.

“The provincial government cannot stand alone. We are implementing collaborative government with various parties, including 177 universities. We are deploying academics to help reduce poverty,” he said.

Pekalongan Regency also received an award in the category of Regency Government with a Strong Commitment to Poverty Reduction.

“This is proof that the outcome of development activities is that people can become empowered and prosperous,” Luthfi said.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment Muhaimin Iskandar said the Mandaya Award symbolised a transformation in how poverty is addressed in Indonesia. Rather than focusing solely on providing social assistance, he said, the approach was shifting towards empowering communities, including by providing children from poor and disadvantaged families with access to proper education through Sekolah Rakyat.

“We want to promote a transformation that empowers communities to make the country strong and self-reliant,” he said.