Since January 2006, The Asia Foundation has supported a wide range of economic, legal, educational, and political empowerment projects to improve the status of women in Aceh, Indonesia. Building on more than three decades of collaboration with civil society organizations in Aceh, the Foundation has drawn upon the expertise of its own staff and that of its partners to implement programs in a culturally sensitive way.

The programs have resulted in several notes of remarkable progress. First, Aceh’s first women’s crisis center with a fully trained staff and tremendous community support has opened. Women legislators have also started to work together toward the creation of an Acehnese women’s caucus, while a total of 2,287 women in 49 villages have joined a micro-credit program — and 1,246 members have already become fund recipients. Finally, to combat trafficking in Aceh, anti-trafficking curriculum was recently finalized and 12,000 copies of an anti-trafficking student workbook were printed and distributed.

These programs assist in developing a stronger civil society network at a critical time in Aceh when the province is recovering from years of conflict, rebuilding after natural disaster, and exercising the authority afforded to them through the Law on the Governance of Aceh and the December 2006 elections.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007 at 3:29 pm and is filed under | Notes from the Field .