Reducing the financial burden on the unprivileged community and boosting people’s income have become a part of the Manpower Ministry's strategy for alleviating poverty, Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah has said.
The ministry's poverty reduction efforts include the beginner self-employment (TKM) program, which is targeting 100 thousand people, and the advanced TKM program for 1,800 participants, she informed in a written statement received here on Thursday.
The efforts also include the Productive Migrant Villages Program, which is targeting to help 150 villages build productive independent businesses, she said. The program envisages the active role of the village government.
"It will not only help rural communities who want to work abroad, but can also provide information services on productive businesses through the role of the village government," the minister stated while attending a virtual Plenary Meeting of the National Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Reduction, led by Vice President Ma'ruf Amin, on Wednesday.
Furthermore, she informed that currently, poverty tends to be higher in rural areas, however, the unemployment rate is higher in urban areas.
This shows that there are workers in rural areas whose incomes have not been able to meet their needs, she noted. "Moreover, it indicates that they work in the informal agricultural sector," Fauziyah added.
She also revealed that the unemployment and poverty rates in urban areas are higher in the 15-19 age group at 23.75 percent in 2021.
Meanwhile, according to the level of education, the highest urban unemployment is experienced at the vocational high school level of 10.3 percent, she said.
"We need to anticipate the poverty level in urban areas affected by educated youth unemployment," the minister added.
She informed that the ministry will strive to increase people's income by improving their skills; providing labor market services for 2.2 million people; and building employment social welfare networks through vocational training targeting 119,729 participants.
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