Kemendukbangga: Why Is a Population Development Roadmap Needed?
Manado (ANTARA) - Bonivasius Prasetya Ichtiarto, Deputy for Population Control at the Ministry of Population and Family Development/National Population and Family Planning Board (Kemendukbangga/BKKBN), has stressed the importance of Population Development Roadmaps (PJPK) for regional governments.
“Through the PJPK, we gain a comprehensive understanding of population conditions. It analyses these conditions using the Pressure-State-Response-Impact (PSRI) approach, enabling regions to understand the root causes of problems and their solutions,” Bonivasius said in Manado on Friday.
The PJPK also helps determine data-based development priorities. With measurable population indicators, regional governments can set priority programmes according to the needs of their areas.
The roadmap aligns policy across regional government departments. Population issues involve many sectors, including health, education, public works, social affairs and employment, and the PJPK serves as a shared reference to make programmes more integrated.
It can also help optimise regional budgets by directing funds towards programmes with the greatest impact on improving the quality of the population.
Bonivasius said that failing to implement a PJPK could have several consequences. Policies might miss their targets because the root causes of population issues had not been mapped comprehensively.
Development priorities could also fail to reflect local needs or be based on data, while interventions by different departments might proceed separately and lack coordination. Budgets could likewise be spread across initiatives without focusing on the interventions with the greatest impact.
Bonivasius gave the example of a region with relatively low poverty but high unemployment. In such a case, the main priority should be tackling unemployment, rather than poverty.
“Local governments will draw up the action plans, not the central government, because local governments know the conditions on the ground and how to carry out the plans,” he added.