Stevie Emilia, Sanur – The government plans to introduce a mosque-based community empowerment program in 11 provinces this year to help in poverty alleviation and human resources development, while also revitalizing the national family planning program.
Haryono Suyono, vice chairman of Jakarta-based Damandiri Foundation, on Wednesday announced details of the program in Bali.
He said the program would be a joint effort between the National Family Planning Board, local governments and Damandiri, a center for national and international cooperation and training in social development.
He said the first post had been opened in a mosque in Pemalang, Central Java, last Sunday by Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni, and that by the end of February a second post would be opened in a mosque in Bantul, Yogyakarta.
"By the end of this year, we hope to have some 50 to 100 of these mosque-based posts set up around 11 provinces," Haryono, who is also a former family planning board chairman, told journalists at the International Conference of Muslim Leaders to Support Population and Development to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Sanur, Bali.
The mosque-based posts, called Posdaya, are seen as an improvement over their predecessors, the integrated health posts known as Posyandu that are found throughout the country.
While the Posyandu focus on the health and welfare of mothers and children through family planning and vaccinations, these new posts are meant to empower all members of the family and all segments of society, including the handicapped and the elderly. These mosque-based posts will deal with healthcare, education, employment and business issues, and religion.
Haryono said the Posdaya would, in short, help empower all of society. "The versatility of this model is that it can be applied to all family and community activities, such as economic ventures, religious activities and even cultural rituals."
One of the main goals of the new posts will be to ensure access to education for all children. "Improving education will help us alleviate poverty," he said.
Haryono acknowledged the program could meet with some resistance in the beginning, particularly from the mosques' imams who will have to coordinate the day-to-day activities at the posts.
"There might be questions like, 'This is a mosque. How can a mosque be turned into a kindergarten?' and 'Why is a mosque being used as business training ground?'", Haryono said. "But an imam is not an expert on all matters, and they will receive assistance at the posts from professionals."
But Haryono is optimistic the community empowerment program will be accepted. "The difficult part will be in setting up the posts, but hopefully everything will run as expected," he said. "The Posdaya are vital to efforts to reach the MDGs at the grass roots."
He added that the program could eventually be expanded into other places of worship, such as churches and temples.
Responding to the program Wednesday, M. Rozy Munir, the deputy chairman of the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahddlatul Ulama, suggested further study was necessary.
He added that organizers should also take into account that many mosques are an integrated part of pesantren, or Islamic boarding schools, thus necessitating a different approach. He said that if a mosque is led by an imam, a pesantren is led by a kyai, who are influential within their respective communities.
"So the bottom line is, the idea is good but it needs more study," Rozy told The Jakarta Post.
Catholic priest Mudji Sutrisno, who is attending the conference in Bali, praised the community empowerment posts, saying places of worship were ideal places for serving the needs of the community.
"But for this program there is one requirement, that religious figures unite with professionals who are experts in family planning issues," he said, adding that interfaith dialog would also be necessary to achieve the goals of the program.
"If we want to live together peacefully and in harmony, let's work together to empower a prosperous community."