Poor Women Excluded from Social Protection Programs

This was conveyed by Vidia from the Rehabilitation Center of the Christian Foundation for Public Health (PR Yakkum) and Lastiar Padang from the organization related to disaster risks in Gunungsitoli during the presentation session for nine main issues of women, disability groups, and marginal groups, on Saturday (20/4/2024).

Also read: Continuing Kartini's struggle to establish equality

This situation can be seen in the Integrated Social Welfare Data (DTKS). It contains a list of recipients of social welfare services (PPKS) involving 26 beneficiary criteria, as well as data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

The data is still lacking in detail and has not been integrated, leading to frequent data errors. For example, there are civil servants recorded as beneficiaries of DTKS. Social assistance programs have also not focused on the various layers of vulnerable women situations.

In addition to data issues, until now, people with disabilities still cannot fully access social protection, such as access to assistive devices for disabilities. "Disabled children who need therapy throughout their lives still cannot fully access social protection," said Vidia.

Not only that, female migrant workers who become disabled due to work accidents and victims of trafficking also do not receive social protection programs for rehabilitation and recovery.

Lastiar revealed that social assistance for women affected by disasters is limited to aid and emergency response. Meanwhile, social assistance aimed at recovery and empowerment for women's welfare is still limited.

Therefore, in relation to the issue of women's poverty, the National Women's Conference recommends a plan of action to increase the reach of social services for women with diverse identities and vulnerabilities. Another necessary effort is the improvement of policies, one of which is prioritizing the budget allocated for social protection as well as effective administration of population outreach.

In addition, the improvement of governance quality and the integration of social welfare data with sorted data as well as the analysis of the vulnerability conditions of women and the availability of safe complaint channels for women to monitor and control social welfare implementation.

Not specifically designed

In response to the issue of women's poverty related to access to social rehabilitation programs, Salahudin Yahya, Secretary of the Directorate General of Social Rehabilitation at the Ministry of Social Affairs, stated that the Ministry pays attention to the issues raised in the National Women's Conference.

Regarding the issue of data collection, he clarified that the Social Ministry's data center (Pusdatin Kemensos) did not specifically design a data collection system that identifies women and their situations, including women with disabilities. However, data can be sorted through variable screening between gender and the type of social welfare program they receive.

The issue of updating data is also a matter of concern. According to Yahya, the data is not neglected and is updated every month. However, the problem lies in the fact that operators in each region do not conduct specific data collection on people with disabilities.

As a result, even though someone is registered in DTKS, they cannot be identified as having a disability. In addition, understanding at the village or sub-district level regarding DTKS eligibility is still lacking.

In fact, in the field there are still many who think that DTKS has a limited quota, so some people are afraid to propose new data. They are worried that the new data will shift existing aid recipients.

"Even though we all have to understand this, it is not DTKS that has the quota, but the program. This means that existing beneficiaries do not need to be afraid of being displaced by people with disabilities, because the type of program and the criteria for recipients are different. "Each has a quota," said Yahya.

Regarding assistive devices, currently there are seven health aids covered by BPJS based on Minister of Health Regulation Number 3 of 2023, namely glasses, hearing aids, mobility device prostheses, dental prostheses, spinal corsets, collar neck , and crutches. Apart from that, the Ministry of Social Affairs also provides assistive devices to people with disabilities.

"What we do, especially in conducting massive movements and affirmations towards women's communities or groups, is not only through structural approaches, but also cultural approaches. We have more than 40,000 companions throughout Indonesia who continue to provide assistance to women," said Yahya.

Nine issues

The issue of women's poverty related to social welfare is one of the nine main or crucial issues for women, disability groups, and marginalized groups presented by Mitra Inklusi representatives at the national congress forum, as well as a recommendation to the government.

The nine main issues are women's poverty (social protection), women workers, elimination of child marriage, women's economy, women's leadership, women's health, women and the environment, violence against women and children, and women and children in contact with the law.

Also read: Ensure to Participate in Development, Thousands of Women Participate in National Conference

The nine issues have gone through the process of gathering aspirations, formulation, and analysis through online national-level deliberations held on March 26-27, 2024.

One by one, of the nine issues were conveyed in the midst of the congress forum. This Women's Congress was held in collaboration between the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection along with the Directorate of Family, Women, Children, Youth, and Sports of the Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency. Representatives from several ministries/institutions were also present at the peak of the congress event.

As for Inklusi's partner organizations, they include Women's Empowerment of Household Head (Pekka), Migrant Care, Institute for Women's Alternative Education (Kapal), Aisyiyah, East Indonesian Knowledge Exchange (Bakti), and Indonesian Household Female Heads (PKBI).

In addition, there are also Partnership, Inclusion Center, and Disability Advocacy Movement (Sigab), Human Resources Study and Development Institution (Lakpesdam), Yakkum Christian Foundation Rehabilitation Center for Public Health (PR Yakkum), and Sumatra Women Empowered (Permampu).