Families play a fundamental role in a child’s growth and development. Recognizing this, MDS Retailing continues to support children in Indonesia who are at risk of losing adequate parental care by addressing one of the key factors at the heart of the issue: strengthening families’ capacity to provide the care and support their children need.
Throughout 2024–2025, MDS Retailing, through donations collected at its Matahari stores across Indonesia, partnered with SOS Children’s Villages Indonesia to implement the Family Strengthening Program across 10 communities in four regencies and one city in the Special Region of Yogyakarta (Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta): Gunung Kidul, Bantul, Kulon Progo, Sleman, and Yogyakarta City. The program directly reached 538 beneficiaries and indirectly benefited 827 others, including children, adolescents, parents, and adults of various age groups.
Customer Support for Stronger Families
The program was funded through customer donations collected at Matahari stores across Indonesia from June 1 to July 31, 2024. Matahari’s customer donation program is an ongoing initiative designed to make giving as easy as shopping, allowing customers to contribute through their purchases at the checkout without any additional process.
During the donation period, customers contributed a total of IDR 125,680,522. To maximize the impact of the initiative, MDS Retailing added IDR 54,319,478 from its corporate CSR fund, bringing the total contribution to IDR 180 million, which was donated to SOS Children’s Villages Indonesia. The program was subsequently implemented in stages from October 2024 to September 2025.
The program focused on three key outcomes: increasing children’s and adolescents’ understanding of their rights in accordance with their age and development; strengthening families’ capacity to practice positive parenting; and improving families’ access to essential services that support children’s well-being and development.
Program Achievements
A total of 1,053 children and adolescents participated in various community-based activities, including study groups, sports, arts and cultural activities, youth forums, as well as religious and social activities. These activities helped build participants’ confidence and strengthen their ability to work together.
Meanwhile, 233 parents across the 10 communities participated in parenting sessions covering conflict management, positive discipline, family economic empowerment, and family planning. Pre- and post-training assessments showed significant improvements in parents’ knowledge and their commitment to adopting more positive parenting practices. Families in the 10 communities also received guidance on accessing essential government services, supported by regular coordination with relevant stakeholders involved in the provision of basic services for children.
The program also engaged 185 participants in six child protection activities. These included identifying key elements of child protection systems at the community level, developing draft regulations on child and women protection, and strengthening the roles of local community organizations such as PKK and Karang Taruna as pillars of child protection at the local level.
Building Lasting Change
By the end of the implementation period, 90% of supported families had achieved greater independence and successfully graduated from the program. These families demonstrated stronger capacity to provide quality care, improved access to essential services, and greater economic resilience to sustainably meet their children’s needs.
The program also supports SDG 4 (Quality Education) by strengthening children’s learning capacity and soft skills, as well as SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) through collaboration among various stakeholders, from global organizations and local governments to community groups.
MDS Retailing extends its appreciation to all customers who contributed, SOS Children’s Villages Indonesia, and all stakeholders who supported this initiative and helped create lasting positive change for children and families in Yogyakarta.
