Discussing SIAK and SIMKAH at Hotel Atlet Century, Jakarta
Two new information systems accelerate legal identity processes
On 30 January, PUSKAPA UI supported by AIPJ facilitated a workshop in Jakarta to learn about the SIAK (Information System for Population Administration) and the SIMKAH (System for Marriage Information Management). These systems support and accelerate the process of obtaining legal identity. The workshop was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA), the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA) and PEKKA (Female Headed Household Empowerment).
SIAK is an online information system developed by the MoHA to gather and centralise population data. It is not accessible by the public but functions as a tool for officers of Population and Civil Registration to send data rapidly and cost-effectively. SIMKAH is an information system for data on marriages in Indonesia developed by the MoRA. The system compiles data on marriages online from KUA (Office of Religious Affairs), and can be accessed by the MoHA. The MoHA and the MoRA supports Integrated Service for Marriage Legalisation, Issuance of Marriage Certificate, and Issuance of Birth Certificate as it simplifies processes for people to obtain legal identity documents.
The workshop provided a forum for discussions on important questions and technicalities, such as infrastructural difficulties with accessing the internet and application requirements for legal identity after marriage or birth. Children, for instance, will not automatically receive a birth certificate until their parents officially register their marriage. One of the goals of the integrated service is to eventually have people immediately register their marriage after their wedding. However, in some cases, these documents cannot be provided on the same day of application unless the Head of Department (KepalaDinas) is present.
Political will and collaboration is driving the implementation and use of SIAK and SIMKAH. In Surabaya, SIAK and SIMKAH are fully integrated, as is the case in Solo, where the Department of Population and Civil Registration collaborates with the Department of Health. Every newborn is immediately registered through the administrative processes of the hospitals or Puskesmas, so that birth certificates can be issued at the place of birth by the Office of Population and Civil Registration. “Those who are willing to implement SIAK will succeed in its use (this also accounts for hospitals and puskesmas),” stated Wahyu Hidayat, the Sub-Directorate Head of SIAK Civil Registry of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
