JAKARTA - The PRAKARSA signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the Policy Partner program with the Manpower Planning and Development Agency of the Ministry of Manpower of the Republic of Indonesia (Barenbang Kemnaker RI) on Tuesday, April 28, 2026.
The signing ceremony was attended by the Minister of Manpower, Prof. Yassierli, the Head of the Development Planning Agency, Prof. Anwar Sanusi, and the Director of the ILO Country Office for Indonesia and Timor-Leste, Simrin Singh. The signing ceremony took place during a Manpower Webinar commemorating International Occupational Safety and Health Day.
Besides The PRAKARSA, a number of campuses and institutions are involved in this collaboration, including the Center for Industrial, Service and Trade Economic Research of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Great Institute, School of Business and Management of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), University of Mataram (UNRAM), Iskandar Muda University (UNIDA), Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Brawijaya University (UNIBRAW), and the Faculty of Public Health, University of Indonesia (UI).
Policy Partners (formerly Research Associates) is a time-based collaborative research mechanism between the Ministry of Manpower and policy-driven research institutions and analysts. This program aims to produce analytical outputs that support the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of employment policies.
The Policy Partner or Research Associate program does not operate on an ad hoc basis, but rather adheres to the Employment Research Tree as a national strategic framework. This research tree identifies core employment issues, the root causes of structural problems, and the direction of policy interventions.
In its implementation, Research Associates play three roles: analyzing policy issues based on research tree branches, producing recommendations that align with the national strategic agenda, and ensuring that studies are conducted comprehensively and systematically.
In his presentation, Prof. Yassierli emphasized that mental health issues in the workplace are increasingly important and need to be integrated into strengthening the OHS management system. Psychosocial risks such as excessive workloads and long working hours are real challenges, necessitating concrete steps through strengthened outreach and the implementation of protections that encompass not only physical but also mental health aspects of workers.