Maluku Activist To Be Part of Indonesian Delegation In WCIP

Ambon (Antara Maluku) - Elvira Marlien Marantika, a woman activist from Maluku, will be one of the three Indonesian delegates to participate in the United Nations World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (WCIP).

This event will be organized by the United Nations at its headquarters in New York, USA, on September 22-23, 2014, Elvira stated here on Monday.

Along with two other women activists, Olvy Oktavianita Tumbelaka from the Nusantara Indigenous Peoples Alliance (AMAN), East Kalimantan, and Dina Lumbantobing from Sada Ahmo Society, North Sumatra, they will echo the voices and proposals of the indigenous Indonesian women in WCIP, she affirmed.

"We are assigned by the Southeast Asia Just Associates (JASS) and the Forum: Indonesian Young Women Activists (FAMM-I) as the Indonesian delegation to bring forth the voices and proposals of indigenous women and our organizations that work towards sustaining natural resources in their respective areas," she stated.

Elvira Marlien Marantika, who belongs to the Kuralele tribe in Maluku, works at the grassroots level in Maluku Association Foundation for Humanity (HUMANUM).

She pointed out that indigenous people have been facing oppression since a long time. Such conditions have driven scores of indigenous women in Indonesia to form organizations or associations to strengthen the customs of their communities.

"The indigenous communities have long suffered oppression. However, they are able to strengthen themselves by establishing indigenous women`s organizations," Elvira stated.

She remarked that indigenous women learn from their experiences as a source of strength, evaluate their own situations, and learn to fight for accessibility to basic resources for ensuring a better future.

The three-woman Indonesian delegation benefited from a seminar on indigenous women organized by JASS in West Java on July 2014. This event was also attended by participants from Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Myanmar. They shared their experiences in improving the welfare of indigenous women.