REGISTERING

EACH & EVERY CHILD

IN INDONESIA
Lessons learned from Surakarta City (Central Java, Indonesia)

SNAPSHOT OF BIRTH REGISTRATION

Sustainable Development
Birth registration coverage1 in Surakarta is below the national average, with 78% of
Goal (SDG) Target 16.9
children under 18 registered compared to 83% at the national level, according to the 2016
calls for legal identify
annual socio-economic survey (SUSENAS)2.
for all, including birth
registration by 2030.
Increased efforts will need to be made to meet the National Medium Term
Development Plan (RPJMN) target of 85% by 2019 for children under 18.
Birth registration is the first
legal acknowledgement of
a child’s existence. A birth
certificate is the child’s first right
Birth Registration Coverage for Children Under 18, National Level and Surakarta City,
to a name, identity and citizenship,
2014-2017 (Susenas)
enabling the child to equitably
2014 2015 2016 2017
access health, education and other
social services and enhance their
protection from violence, abuse,
Surakarta 56% Surakarta 76% Surakarta 87% Surakarta 78%
National 56% National 63% National 66% National 83%3 neglect and exploitation.

Birth Registration Coverage for Children Under 5, National Level and Surakarta City,
2004-2016 (Susenas)

2004 2007 2010 2014 2015 2016

Surakarta 60% Surakarta 63% Surakarta 68% Surakarta 53% Surakarta 74% Surakarta 87%
National 28% National 31% National 40% National 52% National 58% National 60%

Surakarta
Key barriers to registration for Improving access through
children under 184 innovative solutions
43% Surakarta City, located in Central
26% Certificate has
Other
not been issued
Java, is a well-developed medium-
sized city, with a population of
499,337.5 The city holds a central
online registration hospitals/ mobile
systems maternity clinics registration position in the Javanese culture
and legacy, which still influences
12% 14%
Too costly (direct
everyday life in Surakarta. The local
Birth registration
believed to be and indirect costs) economy is mostly driven by trade,
unnecessary 6% schools religious social

Distance to Civil
institutions institutions6 services and tourism.
Registration Office

1. Coverage throughout this document is identified as those in possession of (and able to show) a birth certificate. | 2. 2017 data for children under 5 is not
available for Surakarta City. | 3. This jump could be attributed to the computation of the responses in 2017. At national level there is no distinction made between
those who have a birth certificate and can show it or not show it. | 4. Susenas, 2015. | 5. Census, 2010. | 6. Pesantren, orphanages and homes run by the Ministry
of Social Affairs.
DECEMBER 2018
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS & SUCCESS FACTORS
UNICEF partners with Yayasan Setara and the Civil
Registration Office to deliver its birth registration
programme in Surakarta City. Some of the approaches
supported by UNICEF to increase birth registration
coverage are highlighted below.
Innovative partnership with the private sector
To increase the demand for birth registration, the local
government developed an innovative approach with the private
sector. The former Mayor and current President, Joko Widodo,
partnered with the private sector to develop a Child Incentive
Card (Kartu Insentif Anak (KIA)) linked to birth registration. Each
registered child receives, together with his/her birth certificate
and updated Family Card (Kartu Keluarga (KK)), a KIA. The
card can be used to purchase discounted goods and services
for children at bookstores, optical stores, language classes,
restaurants, game parks, etc.
While the initiative promotes children’s wellbeing and
recognizes children as citizens and consumers, a monitoring
system is lacking to determine whether the KIA has had a
positive impact on birth registration coverage.
Strengthening CRVS through the modernization of civil
registration services
The modernization of civil registration services is a major
component of a comprehensive strategy to strengthen the
civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) system. The local
government has registration fully renovated its civil registration
office and improved the quality of services delivered.
Establishing online birth registration for newborns
Since 2014, the Civil Registration Office has partnered with
health service providers to establish an online birth registration
process in 30 public and private hospitals, maternity clinics and
private midwife clinics.
Reaching vulnerable children through partnerships with
social institutions
In 2015, the Civil Registration Office began working with
social institutions, managed by the District Office for Social
Affairs (Dinas Sosial) and by NGOs, to identify invisible
and unregistered children. The institutions share lists of
unregistered children with the Civil Registration Office who then
facilitate the issuance of birth certificates. Even if parents are
unknown, birth certificates are issued using this mechanism
and in 2015, 104 children in institutions obtained birth
certificates through this collaboration.
CHALLENGES
• Birth registration is free only for children up to 2 months, after
which a fine of at least 100,000 IDR (USD 7.60) is applied.
• Online registration system is not yet installed in all community
health centers to facilitate registration at birth.
• Lack of mapping and monitoring system of unregistered
children.
• Better coordination is needed between the Civil Registration
Office and the Social Affairs Office at district level to register
vulnerable children.
• Delayed process of cleaning data and migration from local
population application developed in Surakarta to the online
national population registration database (Sistem Informasi
Administrasi Kependudukan (SIAK)).
• Inability to capture population movements creating
discrepancies in the population database.
NEXT STEPS
Implementing universal free birth registration
1
for all children 0-18
Local regulations (perda) should be amended,
ensuring birth registration is free of charge for all ages
throughout Indonesia, as stipulated by law.
2 Strengthening the CRVS system through the
expansion of SIAK in all health facilities
Online birth registration systems need to be
integrated with health data systems at hospitals and
health centers (puskesmas) at community level and
implemented in all health facilities at the district level.
Improve and extend the utilization of population
data from SIAK for policy development, programme
planning, and service provision.
Achieving universal birth registration for
3 children 0-5 by mapping unregistered children
and enhancing coordination with the Social
Affairs Office
Collaboration with the Social Affairs Office is key to
achieving universal birth registration. Unregistered
children need to be mapped to determine priority
zones for registration services and coordination with
the Social Affairs Office needs to be reinforced to
register all vulnerable children living in institutions.
Streamlining data sources and management
4 Birth registration data is measured through SIAK and
SUSENAS. The data sources needs to be streamlined
and standardized as they show different trends.