Placing women's priorities center stage in Aceh

Placing women's priorities center stage in Aceh

The following are reports from The Jakarta Post's contributor Carla Bianpoen on the recent Acehnese Women's Conference, the second of its kind. This year's conference aims to strengthen the role of women in the province's ongoing reconstruction and rehabilitation.

The Aceh Women's Conference 2, or Duek Pakat Inong Aceh 2, once again showed Aceh women's leadership at critical times.

Held in Banda Aceh from June 16 through June 19 -- six months after the devastating earthquakes and tsunami -- and in light of women's limited participation in the development and implementation of Aceh's reconstruction, the conference is bound to have major implications for reconstruction efforts in the region.

Dr Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, director of the Aceh Reconstruction Agency, welcomed the recommendations of the congress, brought to him by a delegation of Acehnese women consisting of the newly elected Presidium of Balai Syura, the Aceh Women's Council, and Debra H. Yatim, who has been appointed as his special advisor for women's affairs.

"I am convinced that it is women who will bring about change," Kuntoro said.

Earlier Kuntoro had asked Debra H Yatim to be his special advisor and liaison for women's affairs. The appointment was welcomed by Noeleen Heyzer, executive director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) who hired Debra H. Yatim in February 2005 as UNIFEM's gender advisor for Aceh reconstruction and rehabilitation.

"The reweaving of the social fabric of life is the foundation for reconstruction and a necessary part of the healing process. It is women, in their families and their communities, who are playing this role," she said. UNIFEM, together with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), sponsored the conference.

UNIFEM has an office in Banda Aceh where Saiful Mahdi works as the agency's coordinator for Aceh's program for rehabilitation and reconstruction.

There were many differences between this and previous women's conference, but the most remarkable could have been the singing of the national anthem Indonesia Raya at this conference.

Another difference from the first Acehnese Women's Conference in February 2000 (Duek Pakat Inong Aceh ), where peace and justice were the main concerns amid demands for a referendum raised by local students and human rights activists, the women demanded a decision-making place at the peace negotiating table,

The conference, which closed on June 19, focused on livelihoods, protection and women's place in the reconstruction process of their devastated province.

Particular focus was on the issue of land title and ownership, including inheritance rights, particularly in the case of children who lost their entire family; the creation of adequate settlements and housing, the lack of gender sensitivity in the planning and management of temporary barracks; and the need for more opportunities for women to interact with local and national authorities and to participate in decision-making to engage with the reconstruction process.

Whereas the first conference was one of threats -- as students, non-governmental groups and representatives of women's groups supporting the Free Aceh Movement demanded a referendum -- the second conference was infiltrated by opinions voicing fundamentalist understandings of sharia law.

A wide cross-section of society -- including farmers, fisherwomen, refugees, the disabled, students, businesswomen religious leaders, government officials, academics and non-Muslim minorities -- enthusiastically participated in this year's conference.

Both conferences resulted in a victory for women -- the first in dropping the referendum call from the agenda and putting peace on center stage, and the second, ultimately expressing the needs to get out of their multilevel, dismal situation, as well as the strong and realistic view of Aceh women in modern society.

Such was the outcome of spirited discussions in seven parallel commissions dealing with (1) Women and Sharia Law in the Context of Aceh Tradition and Social and Cultural Conditions; (2) Women and Peace from Legal, Human Rights and Government Regulations perspectives; (3) Women and Politics; (4) Women in the Economy and as Laborers; (5) Women and Education; (6) Women and Health; (7) Women and Children Refugees.

Outside the conference hall, women who were not so eloquent at the microphone, spelled out the concrete problems. Like the woman from Banyak island in Singkil district.

The 53-year-old Hajah Mawarni, who says she goes to sea to fish and also buys and sells fish in Singkil, explained at length that it takes four hours to sail from Banyak island to Singkil, where she sells the fish.

The boat only goes three times a week. Mawarni said that since the tsunami the ice-making machine had been out of order, so they could not keep the fish fresh.

Houses are either gone or still deep under water. The owner of the Jasa Baru Indah guest house, which disappeared in the tsunami, also complained that only those whose houses were affected were given subsidies or sustenance.

"As if those who did not lose their houses had not been affected at all," she protested.

Teachers Husnimar, 39, a graduate of the Teachers College and Hj. Nur Tasaim Anhar, who is a graduate of the School of Agriculture, revealed that their elementary school building was ravaged by the tsunami, and they were still teaching their students in a tent on what was formerly the volleyball field.

In Cane, in the southeastern part of Aceh, near Gunung Leuser, Erdarina had another story to tell.

"Our problem is domestic violence," she says.

"Just recently, a woman's fingers were chopped off by her husband. We are still investigating what the cause was," said the founder of Lembaga Perempuan (Women's Foundation).

Erda is looking for ways to get training in handling such cases.

It seems that a solid information and communications system is urgently needed.

For many participants, this was the first time they had participated in a conference at all, and numerous were the times that they had to be reminded of the rules that had been agreed upon at the beginning of the conference.

Also, the long list of members of the Steering and the Organizing committee were not familiar enough with the rules of the conferences, and those with great experience like Rosni Idham, Samsidar, Azriana, had a hard time keeping the participants' exuberant emotions in check.

The voting process to elect the new Presidium of the Balai Syura Ureng Inong Aceh was also an exciting event, with protests and cheers. Balai Syura was established in April 2000 as a follow-up on the recommendations of the first conference. Its aim is to be a place where Aceh women can deliberate and make decisions. It is currently represented by delegates from 21 districts.

The Presidium, elected to lead the Balai Syura Ureng Inong Aceh, of which Aceh women's organizations in 21 districts are members, comprise: Asna Husin, a graduate of the School of Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University and currently a lecturer at IAIN Tarbijah in Banda Aceh; Iliza Saaduddin Djamal, a member of the local legislature and member of the United Development Party (PPP), Samsidar, Aceh member and Special Rapporteur of the National Commission on Violence against Women, Naimah Hasan, who sits on the Supervisory Board for the Nias and Aceh Reconstruction, has been a member of the Partnership for Governance Reform since 2000, and participated in the Indonesia -- Free Aceh Movement dialog for Humanitarian Pause in Aceh in 2000-2001; and Dahlia who is a member of Majelis Taklim Women's Prayer group.

The conference also elected Nursiti as Secretary-General. Nursiti is a graduate of the Law School at Syah Kuala University in Banda Aceh and a member of the Working Group on the Transformation of Gender Understanding (Kelompok Kerja Transformasi Jender).

The mechanism for linking Aceh women's needs, aspirations, and voices from all the corners in the Aceh districts with the Aceh Reconstruction Agency is currently being worked out. No doubt a daunting, yet gratifying, task