Indonesia has great natural wealth but many of its citizens live in extreme poverty. Democratic progress has been made since the resigation of former president Suharto in 1998, but many civil society organisations feel that far too little progress has been made towards sustainable management of the country's resources, and ensuring that Indonesia's diverse communities have a real say in decisions which affect their future.
By Yuliana Langowuyo, director of SKPKC Fransiskan Papua, who has been visiting the community in Susun Village at least once a month since 2011 to carry out research and provide assistance.
This article was prepared for the National Commission for Human Rights as part of its 2014 National Inquiry into the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to their Territories in the Forest Zone.[2] DTE’s translation was done with kind permission of the author, and with her assistance.
Too often indigenous women are prevented from making key decision for themselves, leaving them powerless to ensure gender-related injustices which directly affect them, their families and their communities are understood and addressed.
DTE asks Kasmita Widodo, director of the Ancestral Domain Registration Agency (BRWA[1]), about his experience of gender in participatory mapping with indigenous communities in Indonesia.
gn [dot] apc [dot] org
