Ambon (Antara Maluku) - Indigenous women in Indonesia have been dealing with multiple challenges with regard to their capacity as youth, as women, and as part of the indigenous people, Niken Lestari stated here on Tuesday.
"They play an important role as the stewards of biodiversity, and sources of local knowledge and seeds. They are responsible for the continuity of generations, caring for their children, engaging in traditional ceremonies, and so on, but they also have to deal with multiple discrimination," Niken, coordinator of the Indonesian Young Women Activists Forum (FAMM-I), said.
According to Niken, discrimination can be observed from the undermined position of indigenous women when we tried to integrate indigenous people into the national policy with regard to exploring natural resources, which are mostly located in the lands where indigenous people live.
For instance, indigenous women who live in the islands and coastal regions have lost access to the high protein sources and livelihoods due to a rise in sea level.
In addition, they also suffer the burdens of everyday life, such as limited access to clean water and the great distance to find fuel.
"We see that the customary laws have not fully taken sides with so that they have the rights to have access, participate, control and get benefit of the communal land and all other natural resources," Niken said.
Therefore, the women organization through Movement Building Initiative, which has been carried out since 2007, seeks to expand the access of young women activists in enhancing the capacity of leadership and organizing in the frame of women`s perspectives.
Strengthening those capacities will result in strengthening the young people who will be the next community managers. By doing so, it is expected that all voices, experiences, and interests of women will be accommodated in the policy at the local and national levels.
She added that FAMM-I will discuss the multiple challenges faced by the indigenous women in Indonesia at the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, organized by the United Nations in New York, USA, on September 22-23, 2014.
Indonesia will send a delegation of three women--Olvy Oktavianita Tumbelaka from Nusantara Indigenous Peoples Alliance, East Kalimantan; Elvira Marlien Marantika from Maluku Association For Humanity; and Dina Lumbantobing from Sada Ahmo Society, North Sumatra.
