Poor women household heads struggle to survive

Poor women household heads struggle to survive

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung, West Java

Nani, 25, from Cilandesan village, Subang regency, has lost hope.
Her beloved husband, Zidan, has died.

Nani is still a month into pregnancy, while her daughter,
Fitri, is now three. She never imagined that she would end up
being widowed. "When I lost my husband, I had mixed emotions. I
was sad and didn't know how to bring my child up," she told The
Jakarta Post during a recent workshop titled "Women as Household
Heads", in Bandung.

Nani could not stop thinking how she would have the confidence
to mix with people as a widow. "People are indifferent toward
widows. Neighbors avoid us, afraid that we will seduce their
husbands," she said.

It is also impossible to apply for a loan to start a small
business selling food, as most banks and creditors only provide
loans to male household heads.

No one would wish to become a widow, but it is estimated that
there are millions of women in the country who have suffered the
same fate as Nani.

They have to strive to head their families and provide
sustenance for their children. Some are left on their own by the
death of their husband or are divorced, and some are forced to
support the family as their husbands are physically handicapped.

With an average income of below Rp 7,000 (70 U.S. cents) per
day, they have to provide for four to five family members, while
many are illiterate and around 70 percent have not even completed
elementary school.

They have to face poverty, and are stigmatized and ostracized
by their communities.

National coordinator of the Women Heading Households
Empowerment Program Nani Zulminarni said that those three
disadvantages caused women to be ignored by the social community
system, which deprived them of resources.

As a result, they will definitely be poor socially as well as
economically. The average age of women household heads in
Indonesia is 37, with an age range from 18 to 75.

At the end of 2000 an evaluation of the government's district-
level poverty eradication program showed that the multibillion
rupiah program had failed to reach the poorest group in the
community, namely poor women heads of households.

They account for an estimated 13.4 percent of around 60
million households in Indonesia today. Half are victims of
conflict. "The trend is rising, especially in conflict and
isolated areas," said Nani. In conflict areas such as Aceh, Papua
and Maluku, many housewives lost their spouses or were deserted
by their husbands, who fled to other areas.

In poor, isolated areas like East and West Nusa Tenggara, most
of the men migrate elsewhere, even overseas, without regularly
sending home money to support their families.

"What they eventually need are improvement of their welfare
and access to information, education and an enhancement of their
participation in society," she said.

The government has established programs for widows and orphans
in conflict areas, but they appear not to have worked. The
program has prompted a group of women activists to establish a
special empowerment program for poor women heads of household,
provided with a grant of US$1.8 million from the Japan Social
Development Fund, which has been put to proper use.

Since November 2001, women have been encouraged to organize
themselves, and to be bolder and retain their self-confidence.

After two years of organizing, the grant was used to establish
savings and loan cooperatives to rotate money among members.
"There are three loan conditions for starting productive
endeavors like farming, breeding and processing food, and also
for children's schooling and providing food for elderly heads of
households," she said.

Nani and her friends in West Java are not the only ones
targeted. There are now around 7,000 women heads of household
involved in the empowerment program in eight provinces -- West,
Central and East Java, Aceh, East and West Nusa Tenggara, North
Maluku and North Sulawesi.

They are organized by counseling groups to make proposals,
take loans and take responsibility for the funds they have
borrowed.

The funding amount is different for each province, depending
on the number of household heads. In West Java for example, a
district is provided with Rp 350 million (US$ 36,842), while in
Aceh it is Rp 480 million, and in East Nusa Tenggara Rp 750
million. Most widows in West Java have borrowed money for
starting processed food businesses, while in East and West Nusa
Tenggara, it is used for raising livestock and establishing
fabric-weaving businesses.

Since the provision of funds a year ago, the program has
absorbed around 60 percent of the amount granted.