Husbands in Indonesia urged to play greater role in family planning

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Ministry of Population and Family Development is urging husbands to take a more active role in family planning and reproductive health to promote healthier families.

"Let us build a shared understanding that a husband who cares about reproductive health is one who is present, listens, engages in discussion, provides support, and makes decisions together with his wife," Deputy Wahidin said.

Speaking at an online seminar on male contraception on Thursday, he said male involvement in family planning is crucial to building healthy, quality families.

Male participation in Indonesia's family planning programs remains relatively low, Wahidin said.

The 2025 Family Data Update showed that men accounted for about 3.3 percent of modern contraceptive users, compared with more than 96 percent for women.

The disparity shows that responsibility for family planning is not yet equally shared by husbands and wives, Wahidin said, calling for greater public understanding of shared roles.

He said the webinar could strengthen public literacy on shared decision-making in contraception and increase understanding of male contraceptive methods.

Wahidin also urged stakeholders to build an ecosystem supporting men's involvement in reproductive health and family planning.

He expressed hope that the webinar would encourage behavioral change, foster dialogue and produce concrete commitments to increase husbands' participation in family planning.

In July 2026, the ministry launched the Kelas Ayah Idaman (Ideal Father Class), a program encouraging husbands to take an active role in choosing family planning methods.

The ministry is expanding the initiative this year to 1,000 independent midwife clinics nationwide.

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Translator: Tri Meilani. Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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