Key Challenges for children in Indonesia
- Indonesia is particularly vulnerable to flooding, severe droughts, tsunamis, earthquakes, forest fires, and volcanic activity.
- Wildfires, rapid urbanization, and reliance on solid fuel, such as wood or charcoal, have exposed many to dangerously high levels of air pollution. Acute respiratory infections, like pneumonia, are leading causes of death for children under 5.
- Out of a population of more than 260 million, nearly 26 million Indonesians live in poverty, with approximately 20 percent just marginally above the poverty line.
- One in three children under age 5 has experienced stunted growth due to chronic malnutrition and from diseases such as diarrhea and malaria
How your support is helping children like Novi
Thanks to your support, girls like Novi, 14, are taking charge of their futures! Through Plan International’s Better Life Options and Opportunities Model (BLOOM), girls are learning about their rights, reproductive health, and how to protect themselves against trackers. Young women are also working with community mentors who challenge them to think critically about education, goal setting, and career planning, as well as how to complete job applications and interview professionally.
Novi and her friends plan to finish school and pursue careers before they get married – and their families and communities are solidly behind them. “BLOOM is an important opportunity for us girls,” says Novi. “We get to apply what we’re learning in school to real life… and plan for the future.”