Indonesia
Child Rights and Business guidance for Chinese Companies Operating in Indonesia
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With roughly 89 million children, Indonesia has the fourth largest child population in the world. Indonesia is also Southeast Asia’s largest economy, and children in the country have benefited from decades of economic progress and poverty reduction. In 1990, Indonesia ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and in 2004 established a National Commission for Child Protection (KPAI) to assess, evaluate and monitor children’s rights and redress violations.
Nevertheless, data on the situation of children is not always widely collected. For companies, a lack of available data, combined with the country’s challenging geography of over 17,500 islands, means that respecting children's rights and carrying out human rights due diligence can be a difficult task. Due to the country's large size and diversity, national trends can often mask significant disparities across regions and ethnic groups, of which there are thousands. Key challenges faced by children in Indonesia therefore vary from region-to-region, but include poverty and limited access to basic services, particularly in remote and underserved areas.
In 2017, the National Commission for Human Rights issued a recommended National Action Plan (NAP) on Business and Human Rights. The recommended NAP acknowledges that children's rights should receive special attention in corporate efforts to respect human rights. The NAP is expected to be finalised adopted in December 2019.
Workplace
Indonesia scores in the enhanced due diligence category in the Workplace Index. Indonesia has a robust legal framework prohibiting child labour and providing decent working conditions for parents and caregivers. The biggest risks are reflected in enforcement and outcome indicators measuring decent work, child labour, government capacity to enforce labour laws.
Child labour
In its National Action Plan on Child Labour Eradication and Roadmap for the Acceleration of Making Indonesia Free of Child Labour, Indonesia aims to eradicate child labour by 2020-2022. The Indonesian government has ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 on Minimum Age of Employment and No. 182 on Worst Forms of Child Labour. The minimum age of employment is 15 years old, and national laws prohibit a number of conditions that are classified as worst forms of child labour. Child labour is monitored by several ministries, including the Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Social Affairs under the Director of Social Rehabilitation, Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection, and Ministry of Sea and Fishery.
Although statistics are outdated, child labour is a known challenge in Indonesia. The latest available from the Indonesia Child Labour Survey in 2009 indicates that there were more than 3 million children (aged 5-17) in child labour. Approximately 4.6% of children aged 5-14 years and 6.9% of children aged 5-17 were in child labour, with 13.4% of children aged 15-17 in hazardous work. Child labour rates among 5-17 year-olds are significantly in rural areas (8.2%) compared to urban areas (4.5%).
However, these national statistics mask large regional disparities. Surveys conducted in 2011 in selected districts of Papua and West Papua provinces found child labour rates among children aged 5-14 as high as 36% and 27% respectively. The agricultural sector has the largest share of children's employment (58% of total employment), followed by services (27%) and manufacturing (7%).
Maternity and paternity protections
The government of Indonesia has not yet ratified ILO Convention No. 183 on Maternity Protections, and national laws provide for 3 months (13 weeks) of paid maternity leave. This entitlement is less than the 14 weeks stipulated in the convention, and 18 weeks stipulated in ILO Maternity Protection Recommendation No. 191. Women have job protection throughout the paid leave period.
The short maternity leave period, combined with inadequate support from employers, is a key obstacle to breastfeeding rates among working women. In Indonesia, 42% of infants are exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life, in line with WHO and UNICEF guidelines, which is slightly higher than the global average of 41%. Companies are required to provide dedicated lactation rooms for nursing workers, in addition to two breastfeeding breaks of 30 min per day.
According to ILO data, in practice less than 9% of women in Malaysia are covered by maternity leave cash benefits, due in large part to significant rates of informal employment. According to the World Bank, nearly 85% of total non-agricultural employment is informal. Without a sufficient period of paid maternity leave, working mothers may be less able to provide an adequate standard of living for their families, and may be compelled to return to work before they and their infants are ready.
Paternity leave entitlement in Indonesia is just 2 days, although government employees now have the option to take one month paid paternity leave.
Decent work for parents and caregivers
Decent working conditions are critical for parents to provide an adequate standard of living for their children. In particular, maternity and paternity protections are vital to parents' ability to provide an adequate standard of living to their children, supporting their health, development and well-being.
In Indonesia, the standard working week is 40 hours, and in practice mean working hours are 39.6 per week according to ILO data. Minimum wages are set by region, and range significantly from IDR2.04 million ($141) in Bengkulu, to IDR3.94 million ($279) in Jakarta. The government recently enacted legislation that requires an annual increase to minimum wags that takes into account inflation and GDP growth rates. Despite this, average monthly wages are some of the lowest in Asia ($450 per month).
Marketplace
Indonesia scores in the enhanced due diligence category in the Marketplace Index. The biggest risks are in relation to gaps in national laws on marketing and online abuse and exploitation; and in efforts to product safety standards for children.
Online safety
Indonesia has ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. The country is also a member of the We Protect Global Alliance, an international movement dedicated to national and global action to end the sexual exploitation of children online.
Indonesia has adopted laws to protect children from pornography on the internet. National laws prohibit possession of any form of pornography, including child pornography and computer facilitated offences. Although internet service providers (ISPs) are not required to report instances, they are required to block access to websites with pornography.
Marketing and advertising to children
Indonesian laws have some provisions to limit children's exposure to harmful marketing by prohibiting the advertising of tobacco and alcohol products; however, there are no provisions that explicitly restriction marketing to children. Indonesia does not have an advertising or self-regulatory body, but there is an Advertising Code of Ethics and Practice that addresses marketing to children.
There are rising levels of obesity in Indonesia linked to the marketing of high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) foods to children and parents. According to the latest WHO data, 15.4 % of children and adolescents aged 5-19 years were overweight in 2016, compared with 8.6% in 2006. Although this is one of the lowest obesity rates in Asia, the rates have increased in part due to a lack of government policy to reduce unhealthy diets and therefore could continue to increase in coming years. Food and beverage companies should therefore ensure that due diligence efforts incorporate marketing practices which limit marketing of HFSS foods to children, adolescents and parents.
Indonesia has adopted many legal measures to implement International Code on Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes. Implementation of the Code could be a contributing factor to exclusive breastfeeding rates that are on par with the global average (41%); in 2006, government data indicate 42% of infants are exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life, in line with WHO and UNICEF guidelines.
Community and Environment
Indonesia scores in the enhanced due diligence category in the Community and Environment Index. The biggest risks are measured in legal framework indicators on domestication of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and environmental protections.
Community and government efforts to fulfil children's rights
Indonesia has made progress in fulfilling the right to education, although the government faces significant challenges in providing inclusive and universal access. In Indonesia, primary and lower secondary education is compulsory for all children (grades 1-9), which the government provides free of charge. Since 2016, the government has planned to implement 12 years of free and compulsory education; however, due to decentralisation of the education system, progress has been dependent on provincial and district governments. The latest available data indicates that the net enrolment rate in primary education is over 91% and over 77% for lower secondary education. Reflecting these challenges, Indonesia scores 0.912/1 (ranking 68th) in the KidsRights Education Index.
The country has also made progress in relation to health outcomes, although more progress is needed. Since 2014, the government has been rolling out the world's largest national health insurance scheme (Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional), and the scheme has expanded to cover over 80% of the population. The scheme is expected to help Indonesia make progress on a number of key health indicators. For instance, the country has an immunisation coverage of 82%, which is below WHO targets. The need to improve health outcomes is also reflected in Indonesia's score of 0.656/1 (ranking 116th) in the KidsRights Health Index.
Natural disasters and conflict
Displacement due to natural disasters and violence can increase the vulnerability of affected children to health risks, school disruption, displacement and separation.
Indonesia is vulnerable to natural disasters, especially earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, and cyclones. Indonesia scores 7.8/10 for natural disaster hazard and exposure in the Index for Risk Management (INFORM), a risk index for humanitarian crises and disasters, and 9.6/10 for tsunami risk in particular. The Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID) estimates that there were over 850,000 people displaced by natural disasters in 2018.
Violence and conflict in some parts of Indonesia, such as the Papua region, also contribute to displacement of children and families. The Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID) estimates that there were 4.500 people displaced by natural disasters in 2018.
Further reading
UNICEF Indonesia, Palm Oil and Children in Indonesia 2016