Indonesia

A new attitude toward the fight against poverty has seen three cities encourage public participation in policy-making and design budgets that embrace women and the underprivileged.
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The government of Indonesia recently endorsed a law which states that all political parties should include a minimum of 30 percent of women among their candidates for members of parliament.
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60 Acehnese power women, supported by a delegation of their "sisters" from Finland, took part in a seminar on political participation of women in Banda Aceh recently. The project funded by UNIFEM Finland culminated in a 2-day seminar, which gave the woman activists of the Aceh province an opportunity to discuss issues related to the upcoming local elections in 2009 and women's political participation in general.
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President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday reiterated the government's commitment to prioritizing women's empowerment and gender issues in development programs, and called on Indonesian women to develop their potentials.
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The General Elections Commission said on Monday that now that it has the government’s support, it plans to stand firm on its proposal that a government regulation-in-lieu-of law be issued to ensure that a minimum number of women are elected in the national legislative elections on April 9.
To read the full article, please visit The Jakarta Globe's Website.

Under pressure from the women groups and activists, the Electoral Commission, or KPU, has proposed to issue its own regulation enabling a quota system to ensure that one in every three elected lawmakers — as opposed to candidates — be a woman, since hopes that the government might issue an emergency regulation have dimmed. Under the proposed regulation, for every three candidates elected from one party, at least one would have to be female. And if three male candidates from that party topped the poll, one would be have to give up his seat to the leading woman candidate.

Ahead of Indonesia's April elections, female candidates are knocking on doors, making Facebook "friends" and even singing at circumcision ceremonies to break the male stranglehold on parliament. Jakarta candidate Fitriah Elvie Sukaesih, a singer of dangdut folk-pop songs at weddings and circumcision celebrations, has a unique campaigning style, waiting until her signature tune to make her political pitch.
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Besides the absence of political will to comply with the legally required quota for women on candidacy lists, the verdict of the Constitutional Court ruling on the majority vote system has dashed the hopes of women seeking to gain 30 percent of seats at the provincial and regency level for the coming five years.
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They were a real political loss, as female candidates who many were former activists failed to win the elections, she said. "It turns out what we called the women movement is really fragile. Many activists have been working at the grass root level for decades, which is supposed to be the place to raise awareness among constituents and get votes," Ani explained.
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