There are seven strategic objectives of the District Disability Action Plan – data collection and inclusive planning, barrier-free environment for people with disability, inclusive economy, protection of rights and access to justice, empowerment and independence of people with disability, education and skills, and access to public health services for all. Certainly there are challenges and opportunities in the implementation.
The head of Governance and Social Cultural Unit of the Provincial Planning Board in Central Java, Johan Hariyanto says during the disability action plan working group meeting with PPRBM Solo through Program Dignity INKLUSI, on Tuesday 26/8 in Semarang that there are challenges in preparing disability action plan for 2025.
A number of challenges include: 1. Availability of data for analysis – the National Bureau of Statistics for 2022 notes there are 5.7 million people with disability. In Social Economic Registration data, there is 2.7 million people with disability. In the meantime, the Population Administration Data suggests 71 people with disability.
The second challenge is about responsive disability budget. There is National Planning Board Ministerial regulation that would refer to implementation at Ministerial level, but when it comes to sub-national level, the reference should be sub-national information system (SIPD) .
The third challenge is that the sub-national governments should conduct gradual evaluation. The provincial government has the obligation to report, but there is no standard yet with regards to the reporting method.
What is being done is to involve 33 disability organisations. The preparation of disability action plan must be based on national policy – i.e. National Action Plan. What is being done is to involve proactively disability oganisations – involvement of people with disability in preparing planning documents, development planning deliberation, and so on, rehabilitation, social protection under the banner "Jateng Ngopeni" or Central Java Taking Care of People with Dissability, capacity building and service provision that is accessible to all groups.
The resource person from the National Planning Board, Dwi Rahayuningsih says that it is an obligation to prepare disability action plan and to involve all disability organisations. The top indicator suggests that the achievement – with regards to improvement of welfare such as access to employment to people with disability, is very much a priority for the provincial government to comply with national standard by using proxy indicator: employment indicator and how many people with disability get access to disability service units or employment office.
Dwi says that disbaility action plan becomes a long-term development planning document and it details changes in substance and sub-national authority – re. political rights, disability facing legal issues, and no protection against violence. Just as in National Action Plan, if there is no psychiatric services, so what kind of referral would be available at provincial level - telemedicine or other services. And what about availability of reproductive health and social health for people with disability? And with regards to arts and culture, there is suggestion during discussion with the Ministry of Culture to merge arts into culture.
Dwi adds that there is already analysis about which issue is to be prioritized and there has been activity to address the priority by using available funds, so it is now a question of what kinds of human resources do sub-national governments have. This priority does not mean that other issues are not addressed.
With regards to districts/cities, the key point is that the Government regulation No. 70 Year 2019 and the provincial disability action plan places the province as the administrator, while districts/cities acts as implementers.
This means that the provincial government coordinates with districts/cities in preparing provincial disability action plan, so that the content incorporates those wishes of the district/city governments.
The first issue is education – basic education, and primary and secondary, and the sub-national governments have the obligation to ensure all schools are accessible to a diversity of disability. The education office in Central Java has the authority over senior high schools but also planning and implementation, as well as monitoring and evaluation so the district/city government should pay close attention to the disability action plan. What types of authority? This question should be referred back to the 35 districts/cities.
The preparation of disability action plan or its implementation prioritises participation process and in the Government Regulation No. 70 Year 2019 and in Ministerial regulation No. 3 Year 2021 there is already thematic disability forum. The National Board appreciates the Government of Central Java for involving disability organisations.
With regards to priority target, there is a need for further elaboration regarding strategic target one and the National Planning Board urges data provision and ownership of population document for all people with disability. The Board often hears disability organsations saying that they already have population registration number, but they are not registered as people with disability.
With regards to ownership of population data, 98% of data is already at national level, yet the number of people disability on record is only 750,000 compared to the data collected from DT SEN, where the number of people with disability in 2025 is around 15.5 million people, showing that the national data uses the smallest number. Data collection can become a priority once there is ownership of population data, while the National Planning Board is changing its direction by issuing disability card that is integrated into civil population data.
The second strategic target, the National Planning Board expects from the public facility point of view (physical infrastructure and civil servants) that there is sensitivity of public services to people with special needs. The third strategic target relates to political rights – protection against violence for people with disability, and the fourth target is rehabilitation and habilitation as agenda for the National Planning Board to ensure widespread social protection coverage for people with disability. The right type of social protection for people with disability should consider the diverse types of disability and how high is the social assistance or protection depending on the types of assistance that the government is able to provide.
The fifth target, refer to what has been determined at the national long-term plan to ensure achievement of accommodation for people with disability, the percentage of people working in the formal sector and when we talk about the informal sector, it is not just about fulfilling the 2% quota for para-statal companies but also for provincial, district and city governments.
For education target (skills), there is still attempt to make it possible to provide descent accommodation and then to ensure that schools accepts children with disability as students. With regards to the skill-related education for student with disability and participation in sports and cultural activities, it is not just about competitive sports but also recreational sports. So it means that the government should facilitate sports as a means to maintain health and vitality or as a hobby.
The seventh strategic target, the sub-national governments is opening spaces that would meet the minimum standard of services. This is a major discussion between the National Planning Board and the ministries/agencies – re. how to translate achievement of the standard minimum services – because the National Planning Board notes that the achievement should be measured from the implementation but there is little attention on whether the implementation reflects the achievement in service provision to people with disability. For example, the minimum service standard says that social rehabilitation targets 100 people with disability in Central Java, yet in fact there are only 15 people with disability. This is far off, meaning that there is a lot to talk about here between the National Planning Board and the Ministry of Home Affairs. Nonetheless, the National Planning Board expects that the Disability Action Plan would not just states 100%. The Board expects that the Minimum Service Standard would enhance coverage to all people with disability in Central Java.
35 Districts/Cities in Central Java Can collaborate and Align with National Program
The National Disability Commissioner, Fatimah Asri says during the first day of the working group meeting on Disability Action Plan in Central Java the National Disability Commission has done a number of things – including promoting disability policies, planning and budgeting. This is done from district/city level or provincial level with no prior legal articulation – i.e. regulation. The regulation will strengthen other regulations. Law No. 8 Year 2016 must provide further foundation for the governor/district administrator/mayor decision. So when we mention that the disability action plan is an obligation for the provinces, we must also look at whether the practice and commitment are also solid. That means the national and sub-national governments should have decision to prepare disability action plan at their respective level. She also adds that in the National Disability Commission monitoring, two cities have done the disability action plans - Makassar and Klaten. Fatimah Asri indicates that it is possible for 35 districts/cities in Central Java to also collaborate and align their program policies and inter-sectoral activities.
Fatimah also explains about inclusive development, that it is a development approach that put a priority into the involvement of all people including people with disability. Why is participation so important in development? Because normatively, it is in the constitution. Such commitment ensures that all segments of the society should reap the benefits.
Fatimah explains that the number of people with disability is around 37 million people, and the human development index is 73.8. This number of high and Central Java is one of the ten best in development according to the national election commission. Yet when we look at the facts, the data shows that people with disability are left behind in education.
“The involvement of colleagues in collecting aspirations provides critical contribution to development _ from discussion to evaluation – and this is a form of coordination that is detrimental in formulating the policy direction,” says Fatimah.
With regards to priority program, when we talk about technology, education, health and roles of young people with disability, Fatimah believes that the target should be the people with disability themselves. That is to say, national priority program already specifically mentions that there must be roles for people with disability. There is also the issue of protection from violence for people with disability and elderly, and hos provincial governments should develop strategies to coordinate the work. So, the role(s) of the provincial/district governments and disability organisations are crucial – i.e. when district/city has the authority over elementary schools, junior high schools, and senior high schools, as well as special scholls in provinces. “When the National Disability Commission (Komnas Dlitas) conducts monitoring, it finds critical challenges such as special schools in districts/cities and their distance to the provincial capital that stretches hundreds of kilometers,” says Fatimah. (Ast)
