IPAS Indonesia Foundation held an official meeting with the Office of Women’s Empowerment, Child Protection, and Population Control and Family Planning (DP3AP2KB) of Surakarta City, Central Java, on Thursday, August 29, 2024. The purpose of this meeting was to introduce the ARUNIKA (Empowered Women for a Violence-Free Indonesia) project.
The project, supported by the Government of Canada, aims to pilot the implementation of comprehensive and holistic services for victims and survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in three regions in Central Java: Surakarta City, Semarang Regency, and Sukoharjo Regency.
Selfi Rawung, S.KM., Head of Women’s Empowerment and Quality of Life Division of DP3AP2KB Surakarta City, said that her office supports the ARUNIKA program. She emphasized that this program is in line with the Surakarta City government’s initiative, GAES LURAHE PENAK (Women-Friendly and Child-Caring Quality Family Village). This initiative was created to empower women, especially survivors of violence.
She added that this program is in line with the strategy to prevent and handle violence against women and children designed by the Surakarta City Government. This program is expected to run well and can be a pilot in other villages.
“The ARUNIKA program will complement the program to reduce violence against women and children that has been pursued by the Surakarta City government, therefore this program is planned in five villages that will become pilots,” he said.
IPAS Indonesia Foundation’s Community Access and Mobilizations Specialist, Jaclyn Kaunang, added that this meeting was also the signing of a cooperation agreement for the ARUNIKA program. Previously, the IPAS Indonesia Foundation and the Surakarta City Government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding for this program.
“The ARUNIKA program intervention will focus on multi-sector collaboration, especially community groups, starting from the smallest community, namely the family, which will be the focus of education and counseling on GBV so that it can create a supportive environment for the fulfillment of the rights of survivors of sexual violence,” said Jaclyn.
She added that the IPAS Indonesia Foundation team will continue coordination with DP3AP2KB and local partners in the project areas to ensure program implementation. In addition, it will also follow up on cooperation plans with local governments in two other intervention areas, namely Semarang Regency and Sukoharjo Regency, which are currently in the final stage of discussion.
In addition, IPAS Indonesia Foundation will also undertake important steps such as validation of initial project assessments and collaboration with civil society organizations.
“With these steps, the ARUNIKA Program is expected to be a catalyst for change in the effort to end violence against women and girls in Indonesia,” concluded Jaclyn.
Data from DP3AP2KB Surakarta City shows that the number of cases of violence with female victims is increasing. In 2019, the number of cases was recorded at 31. That figure increased to 48 cases in 2023. At the provincial level, Surakarta City is ranked sixth as the district/city with the highest cases of violence in Central Java.
