Challenges

Around 214 million women in developing countries who want to avoid pregnancy are not using safe and effective family planning methods, for reasons ranging from a lack of access to information or services to a lack of support from their partners or communities. Religious leaders and institutions can play significant roles by affirming a religious basis for the concept of family planning, and by providing information and services to their communities. Yet, many religious leaders and institutions have yet to realize their full potential role in advocacy, since many oppose family planning. Failing to address women’s unmet needs for family planning may endanger the achievement of SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), as well as hamper economic progress and reproductive rights in countries with low contraceptive prevalence.  

Toward a Solution

Developing and promoting international cooperation has become a key element of the development policies of Indonesia. One of these policies is providing capacity-building programmes for developing countries through South-South and triangular cooperation, with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) as the development partner. 

Since 2015, the Government of Indonesia, represented by the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) and the Ministry of State Secretariat, has collaborated with UNFPA to implement programmes in the field of family planning, reproductive health and gender equality, with a particular focus on the involvement of Muslim religious leaders. The programme entitled “Training on Strategic Partnership with Muslim Religious Leaders in Family Planning” aimed to provide participants with knowledge on the role of Muslim religious leaders in promoting family planning programmes for the community. 

Indonesia has implemented six training programmes for 167 beneficiaries from 20 countries. In this training, participants have the opportunity to discuss issues related to family planning and reproductive health with experts and Muslim religious leaders. 

To facilitate the systematic cross-country transfer of good practices and knowledge, the South-South and triangular cooperation training used unique, innovative methodologies. In-class orientations were used for discussions on Islamic teachings about family planning. Outreach in the field was used to interact directly with grassroots resource persons on how Muslim religious leaders and Islamic institutions implement Islamic teachings on family planning. Sharing experiences among participants from various countries was also facilitated. This multi-country cooperation was designed to share experiences among all participants from different countries. They developed lessons learned and their own plans of action for implementation in their respective countries upon return. 

As a part of its international development policy, the Government of Indonesia provides scholarships to other developing countries to join the South-South and triangular cooperation training on yearly basis. In some cases, Indonesia also sends its officials to carry out follow-up actions with Muslim religious leaders in the recipient countries. The recipient countries, with the support of their respective UNFPA country office, conduct follow-up actions to apply and replicate the Indonesian experience and lessons learned with local communities having similar background characteristics, i.e., a majority Muslim population. 

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, these training programmes have been implemented online in the form of webinars. Despite not having field visits due to the programmes being online, participants are still able to discuss family planning, reproductive health and gender equality with experts from Indonesia. 

Strategic partnership between the government and Muslim religious leaders is the key to Indonesian successes in family planning programmes. The endorsement by influential Muslim religious leaders of new ideas about family planning has helped communities accept and adopt these new approaches.  

For example, the Government of Guinea followed up on the South- South and triangular cooperation mission with workshops for religious leaders (Muslim and Christian) in family planning. The workshop produced a statement by religious leaders in Guinea supporting the national family planning programme. While it is difficult to determine causation, contraceptive prevalence in Guinea is increasing, albeit very slowly. The Government of the Philippines is implementing the lessons learned from Indonesia in five municipalities of the Autonomous Regions of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Many Muslim religious leaders in the regions are also taking actions to promote family planning through local radio stations. 

The implementation of these programmes is in line with Indonesia’s commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 3, SDG 5 and SDG 17. The programmes are also relevant to achieving the Istanbul Programme of Action’s (IPoA) priority area of human and social development, since effective family planning programmes are associated with lower maternal mortality, thus improving the health of women and providing more opportunities to empower them in taking more control over their lives and well-being. 

From this programme, it can be seen that Indonesia and fellow developing countries share similar issues and challenges in family planning. The programmes have helped participants to learn best practices from Indonesia on the involvement of Muslim religious leaders in family planning programmes and the promotion of family planning to a wider community. Nurturing collaboration among Muslim religious leaders from Indonesia and the recipient countries is necessary to ensure that the lessons learned can be applied smoothly in-country, and that planned outcomes are fully attained.