Gender and Development

Indonesia: Enhancing Capacity for Gender-Responsive Governance

Background & Rationale

The proposal seeks to maximize the results of the technical assistance (TA) INO Gender Responsiveness Public Policy and Administration and enhance sustainability with additional inputs that will support:

1. a second round of capacity development workshops for local administrators focusing on the gender responsive plans and budget proposals developed in the first round;
2. capacity development targeting women already elected to district legislatures or demonstrating good potential;
3. a workshop that will bring together stakeholders from local governments of Tanah Laut and Tapin, South Kalimantan, and Bogor, West Java, with State Ministry for Women's Empowerment (SMWE) to identify best approaches and common lessons learned for dissemination by SMWE; and
4. a national forum that will bring together a wide range of provincial and national stakeholders to build support for a preliminary draft of the Presidential Regulation.

Expected Outcome

• To strengthen capacity of selected local government administrators in three districts to implement gender responsive planning and budgeting
• To encourage greater and more effective participation of women in elective politics
• To contribute to a strengthened regulatory environment for gender responsive governance

Results to Date

The GAD Fund contributed additional funds to strengthen the results of the TA through supplemental capacity development activities. The GAD Fund supported the second phase of the Gender Responsive Governance Training and a subsequent consultation with the district legislature (DRPD), Women in Politics training, a national workshop on a draft Government Regulation (DP) on gender mainstreaming, and a Best Practices Workshop.

Overall, the subproject resulted in increased knowledge on gender concepts, support for gender-responsive governance from decision-makers, enhanced commitment to gender mainstreaming and women's empowerment, increased clarity on the part of women empowerment department/division (WED) on gender concepts, their mandate, capacities, opportunities and challenges, establishment of new and enhanced linkages between government and civil society to enhance women's participation in politics, decision-making and implementing gender activities. Concrete proposals for gender-responsive plans and budgets reflecting core capacity to implement gender-responsive governance, support for strengthening legal and regulatory basis for gender mainstreaming, formulation of specific steps for each target district to include women's participation in the 2007 elections and organizations and networks to carry out these plans are also tangible results from these projects.

Best practices identified include adopting an integrated approach that considers synergies and overlaps between activities; training participants and content to enhance results and sustainability; encouraging coordination and collaboration between government and civil society trainees; combining governance training with practical gender responsive planning and budgeting exercise; involving planners trained in gender responsive governance as gender focal points; creating structures and mechanisms for coordination of gender mainstreaming implementation including creation of task units at sub-district and village levels where WEDs are not present; and providing capability building for women members of District People's Representative Council (DPRD) and engaging them as trainees in the Women and Politics course.