IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WEST JAVA STOPAN PROGRAM IN REDUCING UNDERAGE MARRIGE, AS PER GEORGE EDWARD III

Abstract

Underage marriage is a complex social problem in Indonesia, including
in West Java Province which is ranked 3rd highest nationally for child
marriage. This practice not only violates children's basic rights, but also
has an impact on high school dropout rates, structural poverty, and
vulnerability to domestic violence. The West Java Provincial Government
through the Women's Empowerment Office for Child Protection and
Family Planning (DP3AKB) created the Stop Child Marriage (STOPAN)
program to formulate a comprehensive policy approach and collaborate
across sectors with the government, academia, media, businesses and
communities in West Java with the aim of significantly reducing the rate
of child marriage. This study aims to analyze how the implementation of
the STOPAN program in West Java Province in reducing the rate of
underage marriage. This study also aims to analyze the extent of
STOPAN's effectiveness in reducing underage marriage when viewed
from the perspective of George Edward III's public policy implementation
theory. This study uses a qualitative-descriptive approach with a case
study method. The results of the study show that the implementation of the
STOPAN program shows partial effectiveness in reducing the rate of
child marriage. This is shown by the decrease in the number of marriage
dispensation applications in districts/cities in the West Java region.
Based on data from the High Court of Religion of West Java Province,
marriage dispensation in West Java Province tends to decrease during
the STOPAN program, in 2021 there were 6,794 cases, in 2022 there were
5,523 cases, in 2023 there were 4599, and in 2024 there were 3,631.
However, there are still many people who practice serial marriage. Index
of the proportion of women aged 20-24 years who are married or living
together before the age of 18 according to 2021-2024. In 2021 it
amounted to 10.09%, in 2022 it amounted to 8.65%, in 2023 it amounted
to 6.79, in 2024 it amounted to 5.78%. The child marriage index during
the STOPAN program period in 2021-2024 experienced an average
annual decrease of 1.45%. Using George C. Edward III's policy
implementation theory, it can be concluded that the success of the
STOPAN program is largely determined by four factors: policy
communication, resources, implementing disposition, and bureaucratic
structure. The STOPAN program shows a fairly good performance in
terms of communication and resources, but is still weak in
implementation consistency (implementing disposition) and is not
optimal in the monitoring and evaluation structure at the local level.