19-21 Aug 2009


EAST NUSA TENGGARA, Indonesia: With its Total Fertility Rate (TFR) at 4.2 children per woman and maternal deaths at 554 per 100,000 live births, among the highest in Indonesia, the newly elected Vice Governor Esthon Foenay will put priority on family planning, women’s health and community empowerment to address the issues.

High TFR preserves poverty and maternal deaths are unacceptable. We need to raise maternal health and family planning issues at every forum, including at community gatherings, like we did in the past,” he said in a meeting with UNFPA Representative Dr. Zahidul Huque who was in a 3-day monitoring visit to Kupang and Timor Tengah Selatan districts with NPO for Reproductive Health Dr. Melania Hidayat.

Mr. Foenay said with the lead of provincial and district BKKBN offices, the administration will strengthen its public awareness campaign to promote smaller family
value to the grass root communities as it promotes women’s health and contributes to the ending poverty.  " Community-based integrated health facilities posyandu) and the village midwives have important roles in providing health services and public awareness,” he added.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                


 FP consultations at the UNFPA-supported Tarus

The province has around 4.2 million populations, living in 42 of around 500 islands. Efforts to promote reproductive health issues, like maternal health and family planning face some challenges due to lack of skilled birth attendants, limited access to health care facilities and poor public awareness.

This is further made complicated by its difficult geographic areas, limited road infrastructure and public services like transportation and access to clean water. Water is limited in the province which experiences 8 months of dry season. The new local administration has strategies in place to provide households with access to water.


The administration receives supports from donor agencies, international NGOs and UN to improve the local health sector. UNFPA’s development assistance to the province and its 5 local districts are aimed at enhancing the quality of health services, ensure adequate reproductive health and FP supplies, training of local health workers, especially midwives. Success has been made in developing local regulations supportive of reproductive health: with UNFPA’s support, Timor Tengah Selatan district has developed three local regulations on RH 1). Local regulation No 2/2009 on Adolescence Reproductive Health; 2). Local Regulation No 3/2009 on Prevention and Management of HIV/AIDS; and 3). Draft local regulation on Skilled Birth Attendance.

During the monitoring visit, Dr. Huque visited two puskesmas, two centers for Gender-based violence (GBV) survivors and had a dialogue with village midwives in Tarus puskesmas in Kupang district.

The midwives at puskesmases and villages need live-saving skills, equipment to deliver babies, and supportive
supervision and monitoring.




Dr. Huque talks to village midwives to
understand the challenges and the supports
they need to serve local community.

Of the two centers of GBV visited, one is recently established and the services are yet to be provided while the second centre has been providing much-needed assistance to women who have been subject to GBV with psychological counseling, treatment and support.

For further information please contact:
Maria Endah Hulupi
UNFPA Communications Officer: 0812 1115 116