Poor Women Successfully Become RKPDes Formulation Team in Lenek Kalibambang Village

Enggraini, a 44 year old high school graduate, is a member of the Community Monitoring Team of Sekolah Perempuan in Lenek Kalibambang Village. Her struggle with Marlina and other members of Sekolah Perempuan “Gemilang” in Lenek Kalibambang Village, has led to her becoming a member of the Village Government Work Plan (RKPDes) Formulation Team. In previous village history, poor women had not been involved in the RKPDes drafting team.

“Before members of Sekolah Perempuan were active in Lenek Kalibambang Village, women’s proposals were merely suggestions, never included in the Village Government Work Plan (RKPDes). In fact, I have had the experience of being laughed at when making suggestions,” said Enggraini.

The Village Head of Lenek Kalibambang, also admitted that up until now (before Sekolah Perempuan came into existence) in decision making, including policies, program planning and village budgets, there had been minimal involvement of women.

The ignoring of the woman’s proposal made Enggraini and other members of Sekolah Perempuan “Gemilang” worried. They think, change must happen. Development programs must integrate gender, disability and social inclusion perspectives so that women and vulnerable groups are no longer left behind in village development.

Together with members of Sekolah Perempuan “Gemilang” and other Community Monitoring Teams, Enggraini is heavily involved and makes suggestions in every Musrenbang (development planning deliberation) from the hamlet to village level. Accompanied by LPSDM, KAPAL Perempuan’s partner in East Lombok, Enggraini received capacity strengthening and intensive assistance. LPSDM is also active in providing input to the Village Government (Pemdes) and the Village Consultative Body (BPD) regarding the importance of poor women and vulnerable groups being part of the RKPDes Formulation Team.

After Village Head of Lenek Kalibambang announced that Enggraini and Marlina would be involved in preparing the 2024 RKPDes in August-September 2023, LPSDM together with Sekolah Perempuan “Gemilang” formulated an advocacy strategy to include proposals from vulnerable groups in the village government’s program plans.

To carry out this advocacy, they realize that participatory data is important as a basis. Therefore, they use Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) data as the basis for their advocacy by integrating gender and social inclusion perspectives. “PRA with a Gender and Social Inclusion Perspective” is a tool developed to identify gender and social inclusion issues from the perspective of women, poor and vulnerable groups, government and stakeholders.   

Enggraini proves the power of participatory data. She said that one of the strong reasons why Sekolah Perempuan members were listened to in every deliberation was because their arguments were always based on evidence and in accordance with the real conditions in the village.

Apart from that, in carrying out advocacy, Sekolah Perempuan together with LPSDM, collaborates with the BPD, Regional Heads (Kadus) and Village Secretaries (Sekdes) to strengthen Sekolah Perempuan in influencing development programs. Sekolah Perempuan often shares their experiences in carrying out advocacy, one of which is when they assist poor people who do not have a JKN PBI card. The knowledge gained from Sekolah Perempuan becomes capital for the struggle so that poor people can have JKN PBI cards and receive free medical treatment.

In 2022, members of Sekolah Perempuan “Gemilang” successfully advocated for the allocation of village funds to provide duck and chicken seeds for elderly businesses. Initially, this proposal was difficult to accept because the elderly were considered no longer productive. However, armed with data that many elderly people are still productive in earning a living along with arguments for the importance of empowering the elderly, in the 2023 budget there is an allocation for purchasing duck and chicken seeds for the elderly.

Involving poor women in the formulation of village programs, policies and budgets is part of efforts to realize social justice for the entire village community. Strong women’s leadership is an important prerequisite to make this happen.