FINAL ACTIVITY REPORT
(August 2002- March 2003)
WOMEN
AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN INDONESIA: IN SEARCH OF GENDER SENSITIVE LOCAL GOVERNANCE
In
October 2002, I have been invited as visiting scholar of the Centre for
Southeast Asian Research at the Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia, Canada. At the University of British Columbia, I have
presented a seminar on Women, Local Government and the Politics of Decentralization
in Indonesia" which was attended by most of University of British
Columbia’s Indonesian specialists. I
have submitted a paper entitled "The Politics of Gender and Decentralization
in Indonesia which will be included in a book edited by Dr
Geoffrey Hainsworth.
My
mentor, Ass.Prof.Leonora Angeles has invited me to co-write
an article for an international development or political science journal,
tentatively titled, "Women, Local Governance and the Politics of Decentralization
in Southeast Asia: Lessons on Gendered Political Citizenship from Indonesia and the Philippines."
I
have presented a paper on "Women and Local Government in Indonesia: Bringing Local Governance Close to Women?" at
the International Conference of Development Studies Network in Aotearoa/New Zealand. This paper has been published on
line.
During
the fellowship, I have attended 4 seminars/workshops on policy conducted by
OSI/IPF at the Central European University, Budapest.
I
have conducted field research in North Sumatra.
During research in North
Sumatra, I also conducted FGDs and seminar with local government officials, NGOs,
community based organizations, women’s groupings, academics and members of
parliament. The seminar which was organized by the Faculty of Social and
Political Sciences, University of
North Sumatra and the North Sumatra’s
Regional Planning Board, has successfully brought together diverse stakeholders
to discuss gender perspective on regional autonomy in Indonesia and was attended by Regional Planning Boards from
all regions in North Sumatra. The seminar was attended by equal numbers of men
and women. The seminar has generated much interests
from officers of the Regional Development Planning Board as well as the Women's
Empowerment Bureau in North
Sumatra who have expressed
eagerness to maintain their mutual co-operation to improve the new decentralization
framework in the region. The seminar came up with action plans proposed by
participants in engendering local governance in North Sumatra. The result of the seminar will be published and
disseminated to participants and related local government agencies.
I
have finalized my research and policy paper (down loaded to my website).
On
22
March 2003, I have
presented a public lecture on “Women and Decentralization in Indonesia: Bringing Government Closer to Women?” at the Central European University, Budapest.
C. Contacts
I
have gained invaluable support from both my mentors, Leonora C.Angeles, PhD (Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies and
Community Regional Planning, University of British Columbia) and Ir.Budi Sinulingga, MS (Head of North Sumatra Regional Planning
Board). Leonora’s critical comments on my papers, have
provided theoretical insights and approaches in improving my research project. Budi Sinulingga has been
supportive in his enthusiasm to extend the project into training of local
government officials and providing insight to the structural and institutional
problems facing local government in incorporating gender sensitivity in
development policies. Continuous exchange of information with NGOs/CBOs focusing on empowering women in North Sumatra, has enriched my understanding to the complexity of
engendering local governance.