Minister Gus Ipul: All Social Programmes Must Move in One Direction by 2027

Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf, known as Gus Ipul, has emphasised that 2027 will be a crucial momentum for the Ministry of Social Affairs to enter an escalation and integration phase. During this phase, all social programmes will be interconnected within a single system to accelerate the improvement of public welfare. He made this statement while opening the 2027 Work Plan and Budget (RKA-K/L) Deliberation in Cibinong, Bogor Regency, West Java, on Monday, 29 June 2026. The three-day event was attended by Echelon I and II leadership and heads of centres from across Indonesia as a forum to align policy direction, programmes, and budgeting for 2027. Gus Ipul likened the implementation of the Ministry’s 2025–2029 Strategic Plan to building a house. He explained that 2025 was the foundation-laying phase through the structuring of the National Socio-Economic Single Data (DTSEN) and institutional strengthening. The year 2026 is a period of acceleration where programmes begin to run fully, while 2027 is the phase where all components that have been built must be connected into a single entity. “2027 is the year we install the roof while connecting the electricity and water to all rooms. It is the year when components that previously stood alone must be connected into a whole, functioning house,” he said. According to him, after this integration phase, the Ministry will enter a consolidation stage in 2028 before reaching the final target of the Strategic Plan in 2029, namely the realisation of better social welfare. He stressed that all programmes and budgets in 2027 must be directed towards producing measurable impacts on social welfare development targets. He requested that each work unit no longer merely present a list of activities but demonstrate their programme’s contribution to the ministry’s performance indicators. Targets for 2027 include a Social Welfare Index of 64.66, up from 59.51 in 2025 towards a target of 69.80 in 2029. The Ministry also targets 1 million families achieving welfare graduation, an increase from the 700,000 families targeted in 2026, as well as 1.5 million families graduating from poverty annually. The accuracy of DTSEN-based targeting is set at 85 percent as a step towards 95 percent in 2029. Meanwhile, the Elderly Social Welfare Index is targeted at 65.07 and the Disability Social Welfare Index at 48.86. Gus Ipul outlined three major agendas marking 2027 as a year of genuine escalation. First, the full implementation of social assistance digitalisation to accelerate data updates, improve targeting accuracy, and speed up distribution. Second, the elevation of Sekolah Rakyat from a programme to a stronger institution, with the Human Resources Development and Sekolah Rakyat Agency (BPSDM-SR) becoming fully operational as an Echelon I unit, serving over 100,000 boarding students. Third, the integration of the People’s Welfare Programme (PROKESRA) as a cross-ministerial graduation ecosystem, utilising a Welfare Card for beneficiary families and an Affirmative Business Card for independence through business or employment. Gus Ipul noted that the biggest challenge is not the budget, as the indicative ceiling for 2027 is Rp84.7 trillion with an additional Rp22.49 trillion approved by the House of Representatives Commission VIII, but rather the ability of all work units to build programme integration. He illustrated the current problem by comparing it to a poor family being visited by multiple officers from different programmes, each bringing separate services without coordination. He stressed that what the community needs is a unified intervention, not fragmented assistance. To achieve integration, he established four main principles: one data for all, one definition of graduation, elimination of sectoral egos, and maintaining dignity and accountability, with DTSEN serving as the backbone of all social services.