After having achieved impressive success in reducing its poverty figures over the last twenty years, the Government of Indonesia (GOI) was suddenly faced with a severeunprecedented economic downturn that threatened to force most Indonesians back into poverty. This chapter documents and evaluates the impact of the crisis and the way in which both the GOI and the society responded to the crisis. It reviews the ongoing policy responses of the Indonesian government and society to the economic and societal problems brought about by the economic crisis that began in mid 1997. The chapter has several aims: (1) to briefly review the economic and social implications of the economic crisis in Indonesia; (2) to document and evaluate social safety net programs put in place from July 1997 to December 1999; (3) to describe and evaluate a series of “case studies” of best practices; and (4) to discuss how results can be broadly related to the post-crisis period in regard to longer-term social policy. In brief, the chapter’s objective is to draw
lessons from the implementation of social safety net programs put in place from July 1997 up to end of 1999, and to suggest recommendations for formulating a more broad and longer-term social policy in Indonesia. The report is based on several sources: (1) primary data including government reports; (2) secondary data including: monographs, reports, papers, articles, and journals; (3) interviews with experts, decision-makers, NGOs, and social workers; and (4) field observations.