The Indonesian Government Vows to Take Care of COVID-19 Orphans

SOURCE: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2021/08/24/ministry-vows-to-take-care-of-covid-19-orphans.html

Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister, Bintang Puspayoga, pledges to look after thousands of children that have been orphaned due to COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the data compiled by the ministry's regional agencies through the Rapid Pro mobile application developed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), there have been 4,287 children who have lost at least one of their parents to COVID-19 ever since the pandemic began last year. However, the application’s dataset does not reflect actual numbers as the information is self-reported.

Social Affairs Minister, Tri Rismaharini declared that 11,045 children had been orphaned because of COVID-19, based on task force data on July 20th as the new Delta variant increased in Indonesia.

Regardless of unreliable datas from different sources, the Indonesian Government will provide psychosocial needs of 1,500 children who had lost a parent or a caretaker to COVID-19. The ministry will also send 5,00 packages of personal protective equipment to social workers who take care of the orphans and at-risk families as well as collaborating with Forum Zakat, an almsgiving foundation to fulfill the basic and educational needs of the orphaned children.