THE EDITOR – The Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Cultural Affairs conducted a study on women’s empowerment programmes in rural areas. From the data obtained, it is known that there are currently many women’s empowerment programmes carried out by the government and NGOs.
What are the programmes?
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Women-Friendly Village and Child Protection (DRPPA)
DRPPA is established to encourage the reduction of violence against women and children and encourage women’s participation in village development.
Not only that, this institute is also present to boost the economic advancement of women in the village through gender-perspective entrepreneurial activities, reduce child labour, prevent child marriage, and increase the role of mothers and families in education and childcare.
The women pioneers of DRPPA, who are the wives of village heads, spearhead the implementation of this institute.
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Migrant Care Village Programme
Not only the government, private sectors such as CSO/NGO also participates to enhance women’s empowerment in rural and urban areas.
One of the programmes is Migrant Care Village (Desbumi) Program which is located in Banyuwangi, East Java. This programme was initiated by Migrant Care and has conducted training and mentoring for former migrants.
In fact, since 2017, the Desbumi Programme has been replicated by the Ministry of Manpower. This programme has created several groups in the village by providing training in food making or handicrafts.
However, this study also faces some challenges. Some of them are budget availability for specific programmes and limited outreach to cover all women.
Changes in leadership structures at the regency/village level, cultural barriers and social norms, and the lack of male participation in programme implementation also become the challenges that are faced by the programme.
To address these challenges, the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Cultural Affairs holds regular cross-sector meetings, collaborates with relevant stakeholders (such as CSOs/NGOs, the private sector, and volunteers), utilises existing forums in the village, and creates village-level regulations to facilitate the programme, such as Village Regulations related to DRPPA implementation.
“From the data collection, it was also found that collaboration related to women’s empowerment programmes between the regency government, village government, and CSOs has also been going well,” said the Assistant Deputy for Regional Empowerment and Spatial Mobility Monalisa Herawati Rumayar.
Monalisa also said that women’s empowerment is very important to build inclusive villages in Indonesia.
The target recipients of the empowerment programme are women heads of households, women MSME actors, women survivors of violence, former migrant women, and families/individuals other than women.
