KKI Warsi together with the Village Community Empowerment Service (PMD) held a workshop on Inclusive Village Development. This event will be held on 22-23 November 2023 at the Royal Merangin Hotel.
This momentum is important for the Merangin and Tebo regions. Where the village head, Village Consultative Body (BPD), CSO, women's activists and people with disabilities, together discuss with each other. Also listen to the participation of every diverse citizen.
Haryanto, Project Officer for the Estungkara KKI Warsi Program, said that this workshop was not just a discussion forum. Rather, it is a stage for collaboration to design concrete steps towards inclusive development. He emphasized the urgency of understanding and skills in village development planning that is gender responsive, participatory and empowers marginalized communities.
Workshop participants, consisting of various elements of society, were then involved in group discussions. They identify understanding about vulnerable and marginalized groups in their respective villages. Several villages revealed that there were still vulnerable groups who had not been involved in decision making. For example, poor women, children, jungle people, talang mamak, and people with disabilities.
Ayep, Head of Pelakar Jaya Village, told how they helped support women's empowerment through village fund allocation. This empowerment is realized in sewing, weaving and culinary training. He said that by involving women and vulnerable groups in planning deliberations, they could plan more transparent development.
Meanwhile, Bappeda Merangin also contributed by providing material on Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting. As well as opportunities for integration of marginalized groups in the Village Law. This workshop teaches participants about the importance of taking gender aspects into account in development planning. Opening eyes to the needs of women and marginalized groups in villages.
No one should be left behind, this is the main principle in development planning. Inclusion must embrace all levels of society, including women, female heads of families, children, people with disabilities, and indigenous communities. However, Revino from Bappeda explained that the unequal participation occurred because of the stigma that cornered women, considering them only suitable for domestic work.
“The existence of vulnerable groups such as women, people with disabilities, the elderly, and the Orang Rimba and Talang Mamak traditional communities is the center of attention. They have not been accommodated in development, and this is the focus for change. "Every village government is encouraged to identify vulnerable groups and integrate their data in the Integrated Social Welfare Data system," stressed Revino.
In the final session of the workshop, the Head of the Merangin PMD Service, KKI Warsi, and the participants prepared an action plan for gender-responsive village development. They plan inclusion through an inventory of vulnerable groups, mapping in village development plan documents, and formulating policies to support the participation of vulnerable groups.
“This is a concrete step towards change. Follow-up plans for villages in creating village development planning documents that are more responsive to gender and marginalized groups. This workshop is not just an event. "But it is a milestone in change that echoes hope for an inclusive and just society," concluded Haryanto.
