Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas), with technical support from UNFPA, developed the 2017 Youth Development Index (YDI). This initiative was undertaken in collaboration with the Indonesia Statistics (BPS), the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Coordinating Ministry of Human Development and Culture. The YDI consists of five domains, which are education, health, and well-being, employment and opportunity, participation and leadership, and gender and discrimination. It gives valuable information on the demographic situation of youth and provides a useful performance summary of the many policies and programmes related to youth development that have been initiated by the government.

On 13 July 2017, Bappenas launched the 2017 YDI. It was witnessed by representatives from various ministries and around a hundred youth from various youth networks, including youth with disabilities. Bappenas Ministry handed the YDI to the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Both Ministries acknowledged the importance of the YDI for the reference in developing evidence based policies and programmes for youth development. The Head of Indonesia Statistic (BPS) briefed the meeting on the framework, methodology and results of the YDI.

Youth development in Indonesia is undergoing some progress. The report showed that the index increased from 47.33 points in 2015 to 50.17 in 2016. Education has the best index value among the five YDI domains in two consecutive years. In terms of changes in index values, gender domains and discrimination experienced the greatest increase. This is because of the improvements in reducing child marriage and also the increased number of young women that are working in the formal sector. Although the domain of Employment and Opportunity is listed as the domain with the second largest improvement, this domain requires special attention, as this domain is the weakest one over two years.

In a more comprehensive overview, most provinces are making progress, where 30 provinces experienced positive changes in the YDI. In 2016, Yogyakarta is ranked first for the overall YDI and the score the best for Education domain, Participation and Leadership domain, and Gender and Discrimination domain. There are at least six provinces that move upwards, including North Sulawesi which is the most improved province between 2015 and 2016 due to the decreasing morbidity rate among youth and teenage pregnancy.

The YDI enables government and other stakeholders at national and provincial levels to assess and track the effectiveness of current policies and programmes impacting youth. It can highlight gaps and serve as the basis to formulate and revise relevant and timely policies and interventions for youth development across sectors, particularly pertaining to the implementation of the sustainable development goals. In her remarks, Dr. Annette Sachs Robertson, the UNFPA Representative, stated that the Indonesia YDI is the result of wide and deep collaboration between various ministries and partnerships between Government, UN partners, NGOs and young people themselves.

Furthermore, she said that the YDI will optimize the prospects for interventions to position young people in Indonesia, through involving them and preparing them to become high-quality human capital. Dr. Robertson hoped that the launching of the YDI would inspire a strengthened commitment and collaboration to invest in Indonesia’s young people and provide a better common future for all Indonesian young people, whether it be in health, education and skills development, labor force and employment, financial literacy, digital economy or innovative technology development and gender equality.