Woman is one of the social groups who encounter political poverishment, particularly for their participation in public decision making. At national level, the number of women as parliament members has not reached 30% which is a crucial point to control policy making, even though there is a leaning to increase by years. At the smaller governmental level, there is also a leaning of the decrease on the number of women in decision making institutions. It is affected strongly by educational level of women internally and culture and political system externally that has not given enough support to the openness of participation room for women. The situation will be much harder for women who encounter economic poverishment. They stay at the lowest level of empowerment which is improper prosperous life. It will be difficult for them to reach higher level of empowerment, benefit and access, especially the participation which is the highest one. All difficulties and hard efforts by women to realize their participation become collective responsibility between the government and the society in order to reach the highest empowerment level.
Women in rural areas are frequently left in strategic decision making both in the governmental and in the societal level. They who live their life as farmers, workers, small-scale traders, rounded-sellers, pre-school teachers, and other special informal jobs of women are still considered as additional income getter in the family or as the second position after the men in economy. On the other hand, in many rural households a woman’s role in economy has become the primary support which takes a large portion of family income. Rural people who mostly depend their incomes on agricultural resources are the frail societal group to suffer from poverishment caused by industrial policies which are contradictory with agricultural development. This condition does not support democratization with the reason that it hinders woman’s aspiration channeling that will be impacted on unsuccessful program implementation to reach its goal.
A general picture of the problems above has shown in most districts of East Java as the result of social analysis by certain NGOs in relationship with the woman participation in decision making issue. Their works include conducting several efforts to promote rural woman participation. Their experiences in running woman empowerment and policy advocacy programs have proven the existence of the problems above and have found many best practices and lessons.
There are two steps to be essentially implemented to facilitate woman participation in producing gender responsive policies. Firstly, woman organizing is a step as a solution of political poverishment on women internally. Women, specifically in rural areas, have to get political education to wake their consciousness to break all cultural barriers and systems that discriminate them lately. Afterwards, they have to build a systematic strength through organizations on the purpose of increasing their bargaining position in the governmental and societal level.
Certain NGOs note some experiences for channeling their aspirations women can build their own groups, join the woman group such as PKK (women working group of family prosperous empowerment) and religious groups, or join the mixed-sex groups such as farmer groups and cooperatives. Along with the implementation of gender mainstreaming in government’s programs, women have an opportunity to build their own farmer groups and cooperatives. Facilitated by organizers from the partners, several woman groups have been established at the village and sub-district level through the process of awareness on the importance of woman participation on planning and budgeting to realize gender responsive budget. By means of extension and discussion altogether with various woman groups, such as PKK, religious groups, Muslimat and Fatayat, woman cooperatives, farmer groups, and Posyandu (Rural Integrated Service Center) cadres, the NGOs can determine strategic issues in each district to implement gender responsive budget advocacy. The issues are maternal and child health, child education, households economy, and sustainable agriculture.
The second step is gender responsive policy advocacy. Educations and trainings for rural woman groups can be valuable provisions to conduct advocacy at the village and district level. At the village level, certain policies have been advocated by rural woman groups and organizers from the NGOs such as Village Fund Allocation (ADD) implementation, the National Program of Rural Independent Community Empowerment (PNPM-MP), Woman Cooperatives, Village Budget Revenues and Expenditures (APBDes), and Village Mid-term Development Planning (RPJMDes), so all of these can be gender responsive. The number of delegation from woman groups who involve in Development Planning Discussion Forum (Musrenbang) have increased in both quantity and quality at the village to district level, so the groups’ proposals can be accommodated in APBDes and APBD. At the district level, woman groups conducted audience with related Local Government Workforce Unit (SKPD) such as Local Planning Agency (Bappeda), Woman Empowerment Agency, and People and Village Government Empowerment Agency, for proposing some activities in accordance with woman needs and accessing the government’s program and monitoring the program’s implementation. Other forms of advocacy are a Hearing to the local parliament and Community Aspiration Assessments (Jasmas) by parliament members for channeling women’s aspiration to propose some programs in health, economy, and agriculture sectors and to arrange a Local Regulation of Woman Participation in Public Policy Making.
Organizing principles implemented correctly by the organizers from the NGOs will form independent and sustainable rural woman groups. This condition is supported by the background of the group’s formation that has been appropriated for woman needs and has brought positive impacts to the village development. In the first year of the program implementation by the NGOs, the organizing process has been dominant as the preparation of advocacy process that will be dominant in the next year. Despite woman organizing in the village, a series of capacity building activities for organizers from the NGOs, woman groups, and the village apparatus was conducted and continued with assistance and monitoring to particular districts in East Java in order to assure that they can implement the program successfully. The advocacy and investigation process to the government and local parliament were continued by the NGOs and woman groups in building cooperation to conduct various activities at village and district level and building networks in the form of the formation of Caucus of Indonesia’s Woman in Politic.
Dian Pratiwi Pribadi
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