Sjamsiah, figure behind success of meet on women

By Ati Nurbaiti

JAKARTA (JP): As delegates of a regional conference on women held here prepared to leave following their verbal tug-of-war, the conference chairperson, Sjamsiah Achmad, is one person who can at last breathe a bit easier.

A red rose and gifts with attached cards signed by foreign names lay on the table of her temporary office in the wing of the Jakarta Hilton Convention Center last Saturday afternoon.

Earlier, delegates at the last day of the Senior Officials Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Conference on Women had congratulated and hugged Sjamsiah for her skillful leadership of the regional forum.

"I'm so proud of you," said a House speaker, Nafsiah Mboi.

Sjamsiah, 61, an assistant to Minister of Women's Affairs Mien Sugandhi, chaired plenary meetings which followed drafting of two documents that formed the main focus of the Conference - the Jakarta Declaration on the Advancement of Women in Asia and the Pacific and the Regional Plan of Action. The documents were submitted to the two-day Ministerial Meeting on Monday and Tuesday.

Sjamsiah had asked quarreling delegates to resolve their differences privately before finding a compromised stand.

"Our main principle," said Sjamsiah, "was to keep on the track toward improving women's welfare within the existing political (conditions)." Matters of politics and security, she added, must be discussed in other forums, for which the Conference on Women had no authority.

This approach admittedly could not satisfy delegates from all 53 countries, more so their non-governmental organizations lobbying for stronger substance before and during the conference.

Members of the Asia-Pacific Action Network (APWAN), a coalition of NGOs, said The Jakarta Declaration "ignores the voice of women" and reflects more the voice of governments.

Delegates pointed out that women's fate seemed inseparable from the wider political context. The condition of women was cited as being most vulnerable in crisis situations.

While they wanted stronger statements against authorities which they said were responsible for these situations, the agreed-upon sentence in the Plan of Action was that "governments, intergovernmental bodies, other relevant UN bodies...should be urged (some delegates wanted "must") to take all possible steps to eliminate violence against women...."

"Delegates and observers may forget that we have to issue statements acceptable to all governments, as this is a government meeting," Sjamsiah reminded.

A review of the documents, however, reveals thoughts and phrases that, though not quite new on the international level, are still largely unheard of to many respective governments and seem only to come from annoying NGOs.

Self-discipline

Understanding the way the UN works, derived from 11 years at UN headquarters in New York, the U.S. and the UN office in Vienna, Austria (1978 to 1988), coupled with self-discipline in attending many courses before office hours ("including drafting of documents"), helped Sjamsiah better deal with events of the past few days.

"I had to recall all my knowledge and experience," she said on Saturday after an exhausting day. "I haven't been involved in the UN for quite some time."

Her curriculum vitae lists a trail of teaching beginning at the age of 16 and research posts at government institutions, including the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

She holds a master's degree of Arts from the School of Education of New York University, "and my friends have called it a doctorate."

But all that has nothing to do with understanding women's issues."

Indeed, knowledge and training alone does not explain Sjamsiah's staunch support for concepts of women which sound radical in this society, where there are only four kodrat (destined roles) of women, and these are all biological; menstruation, pregnancy, delivery and breast feeding.

A brief sketch of her childhood in Sengkang, Makassar (now Ujungpandang), South Sulawesi, reveals the backbone of her beliefs, her father, the district attorney in Wajo, also South Sulawesi. Her mother died when she was six.

"He stressed that women must be as good as men, that they must get a good education," said Sjamsiah, the fifth of nine children. Her father Achmad, she added, "would get very angry if he knew boys bought me things."

Until now she has remained single, "not that I never wanted to get married."

Expressing optimism, she said that for her generation it was "unimaginable" that a husband would support his wife's career by going so far as to accompany her abroad, thereby putting him in a position akin to wives. "But husbands of the young generation must not be ashamed of this," she said.

The Ministry of Women's Affairs is working on a system which may eventually eradicate obstacles for women who aspire to meaningful lives outside the home. "The family, not the state, will decide if a husband or wife wants to accompany his or her spouse on an assignment abroad," Sjamsiah said.

At present, for example, most married female employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been unable to develop careers as diplomats while others have opted to quit.

"I agree with President Soeharto who believes that for now we can only send female diplomats who are either single or are widows, because our males cannot yet accept having a wife with such a high position (abroad)...We will not get anywhere if we rush things."

Although several conference participants remain unsatisfied, many advocates of women's rights here count heavily on Sjamsiah to disseminate what seem like strange vibes emanating from the Ministry of Women's Affairs.

There have been expressions of anxiety that her tenure at the Ministry is nearing the end - official pension age is 55 - but the good news is that her already extended period has been stretched until next year.