Effective Poverty Alleviation Must Focus on Human Investment
The Coordinating Ministry for Community Empowerment has officially entered into a strategic partnership with Universitas Siber Asia (UNSIA) to improve the quality of human resources in Indonesia. The collaboration, marked by the signing of an agreement on education, research, and community service, took place on Tuesday, 30 June 2026.
In his address, Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment Muhaimin Iskandar asserted that an effective poverty alleviation strategy must focus on human investment. “Poverty alleviation needs to be aimed at increasing human capacity, creating jobs, and strengthening entrepreneurship to encourage self-reliance and expand the middle class,” Muhaimin said.
The man familiarly known as Cak Imin added that education is the primary instrument for community empowerment, especially as the world currently faces the challenges of AI disruption, global digitalisation, shifting job market trends, and the phenomenon of an ageing population.
Through this scholarship programme, the government hopes to produce empowerment cadres who are not only high-achieving and have integrity, but also possess a strong commitment to contributing directly to society after graduation.
Concluding his remarks, the Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment urged UNSIA, as a cyber-based university, to continue tightening academic standards. UNSIA is expected to become a driving force through an adaptive learning curriculum, encompassing mastery of AI technology, digital literacy, and the development of social entrepreneurship.
Furthermore, higher education institutions are encouraged to actively produce applied research that can offer real solutions to various community empowerment problems on the ground.
The signing was carried out directly by the Deputy for Village, Disadvantaged Regions, and Specific Regional Community Empowerment, Abdul Haris, together with the Rector of UNSIA, Jang Youn Cho.
As an initial concrete step of this synergy, both parties launched a Bachelor’s Degree (S1) Scholarship Programme targeted at 500 Community Empowerment Cadres. The programme is designed with an academic-based appreciation scheme: a full scholarship can be extended until graduation provided the student maintains a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.50. Students whose GPA falls below 3.50 will still receive support in the form of a 50% scholarship discount.
In addition to the degree programme, the collaboration also includes non-degree training in Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills. This training will target Prospective Indonesian Migrant Workers (CPMI) as well as internal staff of the Coordinating Ministry for Community Empowerment to strengthen human resource capacity in the digital era.