JAKARTA — Dompet Dhuafa participated in the CEO OPZ Forum 2022 event organized by Forum Zakat (FoZ), at the Millennium Hotel, Jakarta, on Wednesday (2/11/2022). At this event, a number of Zakat Management Organizations (OPZ) members of FoZ were also present, committed to strengthening the role of zakat in state development.
CEO OPZ Forum 2022 was also attended by the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Prof. Dr. Muhadjir Effendy, M.A.P., Director of Zakat and Waqf Empowerment of Bimas Islam of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Drs. H. Tarmizi Tohor, MA.., Chairman of Commission VIII of the House of Representatives, Dr. Ashabul Kahfi, M.Ag, Chairman of the Fatwa Division of the Indonesian Ulema Council, Dr. H.M. Asrorun Ni’am Sholeh, M.A., Chairman of BAZNAS RI, Drs. KH. Achmad Sudrajat, Lc, MA, and all Heads/CEOs of OPZ throughout Indonesia.
“We continue to multiply real community empowerment programs based on zakat funds that are oriented towards poverty alleviation. We align this program with the SDGs and RPJMN indicators and open wide cross-stakeholder collaboration so that the benefits are more widespread,” explained Chairman of Zakat Forum, Bambang Suherman.
After the pandemic ended, Indonesia is still facing the issue of extreme poverty, a condition where people’s income is below the extreme poverty line. This extreme poverty line is equivalent to USD1.9 at 2011 PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) with a target achievement of 0% by 2024.
“Not to mention the threat of a global recession in 2023. An economic recession can trigger economic bankruptcy characterized by weak purchasing power due to financial difficulties,” he added.
Some of the impacts of a recession that people are at risk of experiencing include rising prices of daily necessities including food, job cuts, rising energy supply prices, and rising poverty rates. This is certainly a new challenge for every country to keep the poverty rate from increasing in the event of a global recession in 2023.
“In expanding the benefits of OPZ programs and beneficiaries in Indonesia, amidst the challenges of extreme poverty exacerbated by the recession, Forum Zakat is carrying out digital transformation to integrate data, facilitate ZIS payments and accelerate OPZ service processes through digitalization,” Bambang explained.
So, he continued, in addition to improving governance, strengthening the distribution of impactful programs, digital transformation is an effort to accelerate the OPZ service process. Based on the survey, there are six challenges to digital transformation. These challenges include the lack of quantity and quality of Human Resources (HR), policy and regulatory issues, security and privacy protection issues, information technology (IT) infrastructure issues, system and service integration, and organizational resistance.
“In facing these challenges, it is necessary to develop strategies and solutions together in order to optimize zakat management through the realization of digital transformation in the zakat movement,” he continued.
Lastly, he explained, Zakat Forum always maintains and increases public trust in the institution. “We encourage aspects of licensing legality, institutional accountability, to increase amil competence and certification, a mission to strengthen OPZ and realize the ideal of zakat in Indonesia,” he said. (Dompet Dhuafa / PR)