Reviewing grievance mechanisms for social assistance programmes in Indonesia

Our large qualitative study in three provinces in Indonesia aimed to document and analyse existing grievances mechanisms in Indonesia’s four main social assistance programmes: PKH conditional transfer, Jamkesmas health insurance, Raskin rice distribution, and BSM scholarship. We made recommendations for a well-functioning complaints and grievance resolution mechanism for beneficiaries of individual social assistance programs, and across social assistance programs.


The outcomes of the study fit into the wider objectives of the new Team for the Acceleration of Poverty Reduction (TNP2K), aimed at improving the targeting and overall performance of social protection programmes in Indonesia by avoiding problems of under-coverage of the poorest and most vulnerable population groups and lowering the leakage of assistance to those who are non-poor. The research is also in line with the overall objective to streamline social assistance provision, avoiding fragmentation and duplication of efforts, while increasing the evidence base for social assistance policy. In addition, our work helped to address the adequacy of grievance and redressal mechanisms and indirectly address social accountability and the extent to which programme recipients (but also non-recipients) are actively involved and included in government efforts, rather than passive recipients of aid.