On Mother’s Day (December 22, 2017), the United States and Indonesia announced the launch of Jalin, a five-year $55 million project that will help save lives of the poorest and most vulnerable mothers and newborns in Indonesia.

Through Jalin, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Indonesian Ministry of Health (MOH) will improve the quality of maternal and newborn health services in public and private facilities.

Jalin will help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the medical referral system and work with public and private health professionals, insurance providers, and policy makers to be more responsive to the needs of patients. Jalin will implement activities up to $32 million across six provinces from 2017-2019.

To reduce the maternal and neonatal mortality rate, multi sectoral coordination, professional association, academia, communities and the private sector must play an important role. The Ministry of Health is committed to working with a wide variety of stakeholders to ensure healthy and thriving communities.

U.S. Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Kimberly Kelly said that, “On Mother’s Day this year, the United States is proud to announce a new partnership with the Government of Indonesia to advance maternal and neonatal health. Together we will mobilize both public and private financing to provide prompt, efficient, and quality health care services and solutions for mothers and newborns.”

“By ensuring that mothers and newborns are healthy, we strengthen families and build stronger, more prosperous communities,” Kelly said.

The Government of Indonesia continues to make reducing maternal and newborn mortality a top priority in its 2015-2019 National Mid-term Development Strategy and is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for maternal and newborn health by 2030. While the Government of Indonesia has made significant progress over the last 20 years, the maternal and newborn mortality targets have not yet been achieved.

Based on the 2015 Intercensal Survey, 305 mothers die per 100,000 live births, and 19 newborns die per 1,000 live births. The goal is to reduce the deaths to 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, and 12 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births.

Through Jalin, the United States and Indonesia will work together to provide enhanced care for mothers and newborns and thus, strengthen families and communities in Banten, Central Java, East Java, Eastern Indonesia, North Sumatra, South Sulawesi and West Java.

For more information on the Ministry of Health, visit http://www.depkes.go.id.

For more information on USAID, visit www.usaid.gov/indonesia or contact jakartadocs@usaid.gov.