The promise of Leaving No One Behind (LNOB) is at the heart of Agenda 2030, and integral to the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2021-2025. The UN in Indonesia has focused on translating this promise into action, and more precisely targeting interventions to those who need them most. However, gaps in demographic data inhibit understanding of the groups being left behind, the reasons why, and how to reach Indonesia’s most vulnerable. 

To fill the data gap, the UN conducted an in-depth study using a mixture of national statistics, focus groups, and detailed feedback from UN agencies to paint a comprehensive picture of Indonesia’s left behind. It also examined how intersecting factors like sex, age, geographic location, and disability status contribute to development outcomes.  

The study identifies older people, especially older women living in rural areas, as among those furthest left behind and suggests that living in a remote area is the most common contributing risk factor in being left behind. It also highlights gaps in national data collection and UN programmatic coverage.  

Based on the study’s recommendations, the UN improved tracking of how specific disadvantaged groups benefit from UN programmes, and which remain untargeted, thus supporting more precisely targeted future interventions.