'The tsunami has now turned a new page for women in Aceh'

'The tsunami has now turned a new page for women in Aceh'

Debra H. Yatim born in 1954 from Acehnese father Abdullah Yatim and Manadonese mother Caroline Kalempouw, studied at the Academy of Publicistics in Jakarta and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (Australia).

Widely known as a moderator, presenter and communicator with a firm stand on feminism and human rights, she is also a social activist, a member of the Acehnese Taman Iskandar Muda, a group of Acehnese people in Jakarta, who have been socially involved since the downfall of the Soeharto regime.

Debra is the chair of PeKa Perempuan untuk Perdamaian dan Keadilan (Women for Peace and Justice), who have concerned themselves with the peace plight of Aceh women since 1999, and who facilitated the first Aceh Women's Conference at the request of Aceh's women. She was a member of the Steering Committee of the first Aceh Women's Conference in 2000, and as such is one of the founders of the Balai Syura.

She has served as UNIFEM's Gender Advisor for Aceh's reconstruction and rehabilitation since February 2005, spending half of the time in Aceh.

Debra, who spent six years in London, where her father was in charge of opening Indonesian trading to Europe (1959-1965), has also been instrumental in the preservation of traditional music and introducing art to very small children through Komseni, a company she founded with her husband A. Husodo Wahab

How does she see her new responsibility?

"After the significance of the first conference in 2000, Aceh women somehow disappeared, although they did effect a distinct shift of government policy -- from operasi (offensive operation) to peace-talks."

"The tsunami has now turned a new page for Aceh's women, whose intrinsic potential will be able to come to the fore with the resources of the international community. To make that happen will be the fulfillment of my dearest wish," --Carla Bianpoen