Financial Health as the Key to Worker Empowerment: RISE Program Implementation in Indonesia

In 2025, MICRA was officially selected as the local implementer of the RISE (Reimagining Industry to Support Equality) Financial Health program. The program helps improve the financial health of factory workers by training them in budgeting and using financial services. As a RISE partner, MICRA collaborates with factory management to organize program meetings and training, train Peer Educators and manage workflows, conduct baseline and endline surveys and collect case studies, and prepare progress reports.

Financial Health is key to developing the capacity of garment industry workers, especially women, who can struggle to meet their financial needs, absorb financial shocks, and pursue financial goals and not feel secure and in control of their finances.

Objectives of RISE Financial Health Program in Indonesia

When compared to other countries, Indonesia has a fairly high variety of financial services and a fairly comprehensive digitization of the payroll system. Many workers in Indonesia already receive their salaries through bank accounts, but financial literacy is still low - women's financial literacy is only 30%, compared to 38% for men, 58.95% of online loan users are women, and many workers withdraw their entire salary on the first day and have difficulties in managing their daily finances. Therefore, this program aims to provide workers with the skills and tools to:

• Manage daily expenses,

• Handle emergencies,

• Plan for the future,

• Feel secure and empowered in making economic decisions.

  
  

Implementation of RISE Financial Health Program

The program lasts for 12 months and uses the Peer Educator method, where 5% of selected workers (male and female) receive intensive training and share their knowledge with 20 of their peers. Currently, MICRA has conducted orientation to 10 factories in Indonesia, this training is combined with factory management support, awareness campaigns, and workplace system strengthening to improve financial literacy and access.

Outcome Benefits of RISE's Financial Health Program

Since 2012, RISE (and HERproject) has supported 213 workplaces with financial health training reaching 382,000 workers (56% women) across 10 markets.  This has resulted in:

• A 20% point increase in workers with financial accounts.  Over 90% of women reported having access to formal financial products in 7 markets, including salary accounts.

• A 25% point increase in women who save regularly - 80% of workers (men and women) report that they save once every few months - this is linked to having an account to keep money safe, combined with training on budgeting and saving.

• A 19% point increase in women making financial decisions with their families. It's important to involve men in this, and they reported a 13% increase.

• A 21% point increase in women reporting confidence to manage financial emergencies, linked to the ability to save, and having more say in how money is spent and saved.

  
  

Conclusion

Investing in Financial Health is not just about investing in training programs, it is a transformational movement that empowers workers to become financially independent, while creating a more equitable, productive and sustainable workplace.

For more information about MICRA Indonesia and Financial Health program in Indonesia, please visit our website at www.micra-indo.org.

---

MICRA Indonesia is the local implementer of the Financial Health Programme in Indonesia which is a program of RISE (Reimagining Industry to Support Equality). The Financial Health Program is a form of support from RISE and MICRA to empower garment industry workers to have a better life through financial literacy. For more information about the Indonesian Financial Health program, click here or send us an email at info@micra-indo.org.

Writer: Fadel M. Ibrahim

Editor: Regita M. Rusli, Kamrul Shuvo

Photo by: MICRA Team