Karsa Institute in collaboration with KEMITRAAN, through the Estungkara program, carried out an activity entitled "Strengthening Inclusion Policy and Capacity Building through GEDSI Mainstreaming" (gender equality, disability and social inclusion). This activity was intended for stakeholders in several villages in Sigi Regency, Central Sulawesi, which was attended by 40 participants from representatives of the village government, BPD, women's representatives from the community, development cadres and representatives of traditional institutions from the villages of Toro, Lonca, Marena, Moa, Peana, Porelea, Pelempea, Banasu and Masewo. This activity took place at the Helsinki Hotel Palu for two days, on October 18-19, 2024.
The meeting was also attended by people with disabilities representing the Indonesian Association of People with Disabilities (PPDI), the Indonesian Association of Women with Disabilities (HWDI), the Indonesian Blind Association (Pertuni) from Sigi Regency and Central Sulawesi Province, as well as representatives from the YAKKUM Emergency Unit. The Head of the Regional Development Planning Research and Innovation Agency (Bapperida) of Sigi Regency, Dr. Hj. Sitti Ulfah, SE, MSi, in her speech, said that it is necessary to strengthen the perspective and implementation of GEDSI in the implementation of governance and development in Sigi Regency.
“It is important to also provide respect and protection for vulnerable groups, especially women, people with disabilities and indigenous people, in accordance with the mandate of Law Number 8 of 2016 concerning Persons with Disabilities and Regulation of the Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration Number 21 of 2020 concerning General Guidelines for Village Development and Village Community Empowerment," he added in his remarks.
Through the Estungkara program that seeks to promote gender equality and justice, social inclusion, the Karsa Institute in its work focuses on encouraging economic growth and capacity building of civil society organizations. As well as encouraging fair and non-discriminatory policies towards vulnerable groups such as disabilities, children, the elderly and female heads of families still often occur especially in indigenous communities.
It is recognized that in realizing legal certainty, clarity of responsibility and authority of regional and village governments, there needs to be an affirmative policy that provides space for marginalized and disabled groups to be directly involved in the implementation of government and development. Given that currently disabled and marginalized groups are still seen as second-class citizens (subordination) both in planning, implementation and in experiencing the results of development.
"Limited physical access is often a barrier to the fulfillment of their rights as citizens to be equal and treated fairly in the administration of government," said Desmon, Program Manager of the Karsa Institute in the discussion.
This situation is further exacerbated by their minimal involvement in all development planning processes as citizens in general. In several development planning programs, the needs of marginalized groups and people with disabilities have not been accommodated in village development plans. This is often due to a lack of understanding by village policy makers of the importance of involving vulnerable groups in decision-making such as indigenous communities, as well as the ongoing stigma against marginalized groups and people with disabilities.
However, in Pipikoro and Kulawi Districts, Sigi Regency, a number of village governments have integrated GEDSI mainstreaming by paying special attention to vulnerable groups in development planning as practiced by the Toro, Moa and Porelea Village Governments. Even the Peana Village Government, several years ago, issued a Village Regulation (Perdes) regarding the fulfillment of rights, appreciation and empowerment of people with disabilities.
In the discussion session on the first day, the Head of the Social Service and the Head of the Village Community Empowerment Service (PMD) of Sigi Regency were present as speakers. In the discussion, a discourse developed to encourage the implementation of inclusive development policies and practices through Village Regulations in Sigi Regency.
Head of the Sigi Regency Social Service, Ariyanto, STTP, stated that the Sigi Regency Government through the Social Service is ready to encourage and support inclusive development policies and planning by the Village Government related to the fulfillment of basic rights and empowerment of people with disabilities.
"The Social Service is ready to support the village government's inclusion policy in the development planning program through Village Regulations that pay special attention to underprivileged families and vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, female heads of families and the elderly," said Ariyanto.
He also emphasized to the village government to include family data and residents' names in the DTKS (Integrated Social Welfare Data) because the DTKS will be a reference for the Social Service to provide social assistance (Bansos) to the underprivileged.
Meanwhile, representing the Head of the Village Community Empowerment Service of Sigi Regency, Siti Hadijah, S.Hut (Head of Village Development and Planning) emphasized that the Sigi Regency Government through the PMD Service encourages and is ready to support village governments throughout Sigi Regency to implement inclusive development policies through the preparation of Village Regulations (Perdes) for Disabilities and Inclusiveness.
"The PMD Service is ready to support the village government in Sigi Regency to implement inclusive governance by paying special attention to poor families and vulnerable groups in the development process through the establishment of village regulations, not only the Disability Village Regulation. But the Inclusive Village Regulation because vulnerable groups are not only disabled, so that all vulnerable groups in the village community including female heads of families, children, and the elderly receive special attention and are involved in the entire development process in the village," said Siti Hadijah.
Representing the participants, Titus Boka, from Bolapapu Village, Kulawi District, expressed his gratitude to Karsa and the Sigi Regency Government, especially the Social Service, which has cared by providing social assistance to people with disabilities like him. However, Titus hopes that the village government will be more serious about paying attention to vulnerable groups, which he said are quite numerous in rural areas.
"Thank you also to Karsa for inviting me to join this event. I know there are quite a lot of people like me in the villages. Please, village heads, pay attention to the other Tituses in your village," said Titus enthusiastically.
The first day's activities began with an opening by the Executive Director of the Karsa Institute represented by the Program Director, Edy Wicaksono. Which was then continued with the presentation of materials from the PMD Office of Sigi Regency, the Social Office of Sigi Regency, the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Office of Sigi Regency and from Academics of Tadulako University Palu.
The second day continued with a workshop and formulation of a collaborative action plan, formulation of a budget policy action plan, group discussions, plenary results and recommendations. This series of activities ended with the preparation of a follow-up plan for the implementation of village government capacity building activities, women's forums, cadres and marginalized groups on GEDSI mainstreaming integrated with local government programs and policies.
