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Low participation of women in development planning (Musrenbang) in the villages of Patalan and Canden, Jetis, Bantul DIY
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The village office in Patalan Jetis Bantul. 26 August 2016. The social facilities in the village represent the main driving force for strengthening the role of women in the planning and implementation of various activities in the village.
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R. Sudiharjo, village head from 2013 to 2018 in Patalan. 26 August 2016. He admits that the participation of women in village meetings is still relatively low. In his opinion this is because many still believe that the affairs of the village are the domain of men, although women play an important role in the implementation of programs. For this reason there should be special regulations for involving women.
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The mood at a village meeting in Patalan at 8 p.m., 9 August 2016. Only men are present, and most of them have an official position in the village. A group from Patalan is also on hand.
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Tukirah (56 years old) and Mujiasih from the medical care centres for children and the elderly participate in a village meeting in Ketandan. 29 July 2016. The presence of women at village meetings in Ketandan is very low. Those who take part do not yet have the courage to state their opinions publicly or to address the needs of women.
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Margiyati (49 years old), RT 01 resident in Plembutan, Canden. 1 August 2016. In her opinion, women have practically no decision-making rights, especially when decisions are made by voting.
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Marsih Astuti (40 years old) in her house in the RT 02 neighbourhood in Plembutan. 1 August 2016. She thinks that the capabilities of women are still underestimated and that men’s opinions are given more weight than are women’s.
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Maryati (46 years old), RT 01 resident from Plembutan in her house. 1 August 2016. She cannot participate in the discussions and meetings because they take place evenings and she cannot leave her small children alone.
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Ibu Suwanti (33 years old), RT 02 resident in her house. 1 August 2016. She says that all meetings and village discussions are prepared in such a way that women have no chance to participate and address gender-specific issues.
Bantul PBA (Training Centre for Budget Training)
With the adoption of law UU No. 6 in 2014 many opportunities were created at village level, and the budget of the concerned villages is to be distributed to benefit their development objectives, in both physical and non-physical aspects.
The villages themselves have the freedom to decide what they want to spend the funds on, including strengthening the role of women and children. Each village receives between 700 million and 1 billion rupiah.
The PKK (Organisation for the Empowerment of Women), the medical care centres, and other groups of women have already expressed their desires and aspirations when it comes to the allocation of financial resources. However, they have not yet been able to realize their objectives due to their limited capacity and low participation in group meetings in the village.
In view of this reality, it is urgently necessary to increase educational opportunities for women so that they can acquire more skills. The aim is to enable women, like men, to participate in village meetings and to express their opinions and in the end to benefit from the distribution of funds with regard to strengthening the role of women.
The PBA Bantul is an institution established to ensure that government policy cares for public services in the Banten Regency.
Based on the observation that there is an imbalance in development, a lack of social justice, and hardly any say by the citizens in Banten Regency when it comes to development & budget planning, a citizens’ initiative emerged that insisted on empowerment and public services. Supported by the IDEA Ford Foundation (for their program “Economic resources and public policies”), PBA Bantul was born.
PBA Bantul’s activities are in line with the rules and regulations of public order (in particular those of Bantul District). Based on these specifications, the BPA monitors public services on site. From the results of these observations, the PBA makes recommendations as to how the public services that are not yet optimal can be improved.