TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Jokowi appoints special envoy for poverty eradication, food security
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Low-income people line up for healthy food packages jointly provided by the local administration and the Indonesian Military (TNI) in the Central Java regency of Tegal on July 26, 2022. (Antara/Oky Lukmansyah)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has inaugurated politician Muhamad Mardiono as his special envoy for poverty eradication and food security.
"[Mardiono] is tasked with the coordination and control of government programs specifically on poverty eradication and food security. Looking forward to your work,” Jokowi tweeted on Wednesday.
Formerly a member of Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres), Mardiono is also the acting chairman of the United Development Party (PPP), who assumed the post in September following an internal party rift that saw chairman Suharso Monoarfa ousted from office.
Speaking after his inauguration ceremony at the State Palace on Wednesday, Mardiono said that the President expected him to make sure that government programs become concrete actions to achieve the “no poverty” and “zero hunger” targets set out in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
"Achieving those targets is one of the national development priorities, which will require synergy of policies, planning and implementation,” Mardiono said, as quoted from a press release.
“We know that we are currently [also] facing [the looming threat of] a global recession, hence food security is our top priority.”
He cited Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data that showed the domestic poverty rate in March stood at 9.54 percent of the population, some 26.16 million people.
