On July 31, in a formal ceremony to celebrate the contributions of local Pontianak City leaders to improve access to family planning, Mayor Sutarmidji surprised the over 200 guests at his compound by increasing his investment in family planning.
Mayor Sutarmidji began by saying he would increase the local family planning budget by 100%, and then said: “Don’t be surprised if it increases by 200%.” This increase follows the 33% budgetary rise for family planning in 2011.
The surprises continued as Mayor Sutarmidji shared a poem he wrote for the occasion:
The children playing
Playing while dancing
If you seek well being
Let’s follow family planning.
The high level guests at the event included representatives from the provincial Ministry of Health, parliamentarians, ulumas, Dr. Kardono of the AFP Indonesia national steering committee and other government officials.
At the event, Director of JHU∙CCP’s Global Programs Alice Payne Merritt represented the Advance Family Planning (AFP) project and presented certificates of appreciation to the Mayor and Dr. Darmanely from the FP unit of the Family Welfare/Family Planning Board. Mayor Sutarmidji and Dr. Darmanely have been instrumental in promoting the family planning agenda in Indonesia and advocating for increased resources and access to FP.
Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, AFP is nearing completion of a three-year mandate to increase funding and invigorate policy commitments to family planning. As an AFP partner, CCP manages field activities in the project’s three original countries (Indonesia, Tanzania, Uganda), oversees strategic advocacy trainings and manages the AFP website.
