Women Leadership Festival: KAPAL Perempuan Celebrated Gender Watch Program’s Journey

Institut KAPAL Perempuan held the Women Leadership Festival online on 28-29 August 2020 to celebrate the journey of Gender Watch Program that had been running since October 2013 until August 2020. Gender Watch Program initiative by KAPAL Perempuan is a model of social protection programs monitoring that is integrated with women critical awareness building and empowerment measures.

The program is part of MAMPU Program, developed in a number of remote villages in islands and mountainous areas in NTT, NTB, East Java, West Sumatera, DKI Jakarta, and South Sulawesi Provinces. KAPAL Perempuan collaborates with organizations in program locations to run Gender Watch
program, namely LPSDM, YKPM, KPS2K, YAO (replaced by Pondok Pergerakan), and PBT. Gender Watch has shown the importance of leadership and participation by poor women as the key to access and benefit from social protection programs and women’s basic rights.

“Gender Watch strategy is growing poor women’s participation and leadership in the monitoring of social protection programs. The monitoring results are then proposed to be incorporated into development planning, policy making, and budgeting processes. This is aimed at ensuring that women and poor community can access various social protection programs, essential services, leadership building, as well as increase their skills and income. It will in turn lead to improvement of life quality and fulfillment of
rights of poor women and marginal groups, particularly in the program areas”, explained Misiyah, Director of KAPAL Perempuan during the festival opening.

On 28 August 2020, KAPAL Perempuan and its working partners submitted their public accountability report related to the implementation of Gender Watch 2013-2020 Program to the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas). The event was opened by Mrs. Woro Srihastuti Sulistyaningrum, ST, MIDS, Director of Family, Women, Children, Youth and Sport of Bappenas, who conveyed her appreciation to all parties who had worked together to support the efforts to develop and create a more prosperous Indonesia.

“We are thankful for the numerous strategic programs that KAPAL Perempuan has been implementing to increase the roles, participation and control of women in poverty alleviation and social protection programs that allowed women to actively participate in Indonesia’s development process.”

“Daya Perempuan Akar Rumput” (Power of Grassroot Women) Book Launching

On 29 August 2020, the Minister of Women Empowerment and Child Protection, I Gusti Ayu Bintang Darmawati, S.E, M.Si, launched a book by KAPAL Perempuan entitled ”Daya Perempuan Akar Rumput: Kepemimpinan Perempuan untuk Perubahan” The Power of Grassroots Women: Women’s Leadership for Change”, while deilvering her keynote speech.

“Let us keep our synergy and gathering support to achieve gender equality, make policies favoring women and children, and produce beneficial works for the nation and country’s development.” The minister iterated in her remark.

In its implementation, Gender Watch faces various challenges, including the increasing conservative religion interpretation, customary norms that restrain women, political dynamics in the government, and even natural disaster. KAPAL Perempuan also shared its lessons-learnt in overcoming such challenges to serve as a reference regarding women empowerment efforts in Indonesia. The results of this program have contributed to the growing number of grassroots women movement and government’s open stance to collaboration and receiving inputs from poor women, through the creation of various policies and budgets that are gender-responsive and pro-poor.

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