Aiming for a gender-transformative UHC agenda in Indonesia

Abstract

At the 2019 High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC), women’s groups and their allies successfully lobbied for the recognition of gender equity and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) as critical to UHC. Conservative opposition, however, remains, and realization of the then-approved political declaration will require their continued engagement to hold governments accountable and foster transformative reforms. This article, focusing on Indonesia’s national health insurance or JKN, provides an illustration of possible interventions to advance a women’s health and rights perspective in UHC in the context of existing barriers and opportunities for change. In particular, it presents women’s groups’ efforts, in part undertaken under the Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment or MAMPU before the COVID-19 pandemic, to promote women’s participation in the national insurance scheme and improve its coverage of SRHR. Based on observational data, research findings and literature review, the article shows that these initiatives have contributed to the uptake of the scheme among disadvantaged women and brought significant gender biases to the attention of policy makers. However, much more will need to be done for the scheme to cover SRHR in a comprehensive and inclusive manner and recognize gender-responsiveness as a key element in improving women's health in Indonesia.