Aceh Involvement of Women

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The Aceh Peace ProcessInvolvement of Women


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August 2006

A brief study based on interviews on womens involvement in the peaceprocess and Recommendations to the parties of the Peace Agreement i.e.

the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)

A report byCrisis Management Initiative

In collaboration withUnited Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

andCenter for Community Development and Education (CCDE)

The Aceh Peace ProcessInvolvement of Women


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With signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on 15 August 2005 in Hel-

sinki, Aceh has a chance to create a fair, just and equal society after decades-long

conict. Parties to this agreement - the Government of Indonesia and the Free

Aceh Movement - have been implementing its clauses with commitment, receiv-

ing praise from international community.

As men have been visible in the peace process, the Crisis Management Initiative

CMI was interested in establishing the status of womens involvement and their

participation in developing the society and its governance. CMI, in collaboration

with the United Nations Development Fund for Women UNIFEM and the Centerfor Community Development and Education CCDE interviewed representatives

of the Indonesian government, GAM leadership, Aceh Monitoring Mission, inter-

national organisations and, most importantly, Acehnese women and womens

organisations to establish the status of womens involvement in the peace pro-

cess so far, and to provide recommendations to the Peace Agreement parties on

enhancing womens participation in decision-making processes.

The report found that womens participation in the peace process has thus far

been limited. It was underlined that strengthening womens involvement and

listening to their views and opinions will vastly benet Aceh. First of all, it will

strengthen the process of building a society that can rely on peace. The peace

enhancing potential of women, seen to be the most neutral party to the conict,

has not yet been u tilised. Involving women will strengthen the economy, by ben-

eting from the capacity and skills of more than half of the population. Involving

women is necessary if the process is to be democratic especially considering

that women make up the majority of the Acehnese people.

Both GAM and the government representatives conrmed in interviews that

they wish that women were involved in implementing the Peace Agreement. The

report recommends that the Peace Agreement parties should establish regular

contacts with womens organisations. They should also make special efforts and

provide sufcient resources to facilitate womens participation in the peace pro-

cess more effectively. The parties need to make it publicly evident and that they

want women to be involved. GAM and the government should also request that

their external partners pay attention to womens participation.

Executive Summary

4 ExecutiveSummary

8 Introduction

10 I ReadingtheMemorandumofUnderstanding

10 ConstitutionintheUnitaryStateoftheRepublicofIndonesia

1 1 FairandDemocraticProcess

12 Peaceful, ComprehensiveandSustainableSolution

14 CreatingConditionsforaFairandDemocraticProcess

18 II TowardsaSolutionwithDignityforAll1 8 Peacebringsfreedom

18 Womenwereonlymarginallyinvolvedinthepeaceprocess

19 Womenestablished anetwork

19 WomenwerehardlyheardindevelopingtheLoGA

20 Organisationsdonotseemtohavemanyresourcestosupportwomen

21 Womenwouldliketobeheardandtomakedecisions

22 WomenmakeAcehmorepeacefulandmoreprosperous

24 IIIGovernmentrecognisestheroleofwomen

inthepeaceprocess

24 MinistryforPoliticalandSecurityAffairs(Polkam)

24 MinistryforForeignAffairs,DirectorateforHumanRights

andHumanitarianAffairs

25 TheGovernorsofce

27 IVExpertAssessmentonWomensInvolvement in theAcehPeaceProcess byUNIFEM

32 V ConclusionsandRecommendations

Contents


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AMM Aceh Monitoring Mission

BRA Badan Reintegrasi Aceh; Aceh Reintegration Agency

CCDE Center for Community Development and Education

CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination against Women

COHA Cessation of Hostilities Agreement

CMI Crisis Management Initiative

FlowerAceh Organisation for Woman Activities for Rural Progress

GAM Gerakan Aceh Merdeka; Free Aceh MovementGoI Government of Indonesia

JPUD Jaringan Perempuan untuk Damai;

Womens Peace Network

JPUK Jaringan Perempuan untuk Kebijakan;

Womens Policy Network

JPKK Jaringan Perempuan Korban Kebijakan;

Womens Network for Victims of Policies

KOMNASPerempuan National Commission on Violence against Women

LoGA Law on Governing Aceh

MISPI Mitra Sejati Perempuan Indonesia;

Indonesian Womens Partnership

MoU Memorandum of Understanding

RPUK Relawan Perempuan untuk Kemanusiaan;

Women Volunteers for Humanity

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women

Abbreviations

The peace MOU that we just signed is the best and most

effective vehicle to embody our dream, a dream to sail to-

gether in the same boat. A dream to reside together on the

same land and soil, so lets start the new journey, sailing

together and living together on the same land, brothers

and sisters.

MinisterHamidAwaludin,

Minister of Justice and Human Rights of the Government of Indonesia,

at the signing ceremony in Helsinki, 15 August 2005.

TherehasbeennopeaceinAchehbecausetherehasbeen

nojusticeinAcheh.Whatwehopewehaveachievedwiththe

signingofthispeaceagreementisthebeginningofaprocess

thatwillbringjusticetothepeopleofAcheh.Justicemeans

ensuringthatthepeoplehaveavoiceandthattheyarelis-

tenedtoandtheirwishesarefollowed.Thismeansthecre-

ationofapoliticalsystemthatencouragesfreedomofspeech,

manyopinions,andtheabilitytofullyparticipateinandbe

representedbythat process.Thatis, ladiesand gentlemen,theonlywaytoensurepeaceinAchehisthroughtheimple -

mentationofagenuinedemocracy.

Mr.MalikMahmoud,

of the GAM leadership, at the signing ceremony in Helsinki, 1 5 August 2005.


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As reected in the speeches of the two signatories to the Aceh Peace Agreement

in Helsinki on 15 August 2005, Aceh has a chance to create a fair, just and equal

society a society where its members can trust that they have a voice.

Crisis Management Initiative CMI and its Chairman, President Martti Ahti-

saari, facilitated talks between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh

Movement (GAM) to search for common ground to end the decades-long con-

ict in Aceh. The agreement, known as the Memorandum of Understanding or

MoU, outlined the promulgation of a new law for the governing of Aceh, rights to

political participation by all Acehnese residents, decision making power on theeconomy, the granting of amnesty to GAM members and political prisoners, the

reintegration into society of former combatants, the establishment of a human

rights court and a truth and reconciliation commission for Aceh, and the estab-

lishment of an Aceh Monitoring Mi ssion (AMM) by European and ASEAN contrib-

uting countries to monitor the implementation of the agreement.

The parties have remained faithful to the spirit of the MoU and have imple-

mented its clauses with commitment. The international community has gener-

ally been very impressed by the progress made. The commitment to peace by

both parties has been remarkable and has supported the atmosphere of trust.

As men have been visible in the Aceh peace process, CMI was interested in es-

tablishing the status of womens involvement and their participation in develop-

ing the society and it s governance. The questions CMI wanted to answer inclu ded:

What is the level of womens involvement and how far are womens views are

taken into account? Are the structures that are currently being created as a result

of the MOU such that they provide equal opportunities to men and women? Ex-

periences and research prove that peace processes benet from the involvementof women. It strengthens the implementation of a peace agreement and ensures

larger support to changes that will affect the everyday lives of people.

Womens involvement in the implementation of the MoU, refers to the con-

tributions made by women and womens organizations, or their attempts to con-

tribute, to implement the provisions of the MoU and, more specically, to trans-

late the provisions into practice.

CMI visited Aceh and Jakarta from 19-26 March 2006 to meet with people

involved in deciding on, implementi ng and monitoring the peace process, includ-

ing womens organisations, the government of Indonesia, GAM, AMM, and inter-

Introduction

national actors, and to hear the views and plans related to the future implementa-

tion of the pea ce process. The Center for Community Development and Education

(CCDE), an Acehnese non-governmental organisation, worked with CMI in creat-

ing links with womens groups and women in the eld, and participated in most

of the meetings. UNIFEM, with decades long extensive experience in involving

women in processes in societies, carried out an expert assessment on womens

involvement in the Aceh Peace Process.

The government of Norway supports CMI both nancially and substantively

in this task of establishing the status of and strengthening womens involvementin the peace process in Aceh.


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The 2002 Human Development Report acknowledges that ending a war can

be as destabilising as war itself, and it is impossible to democratise political deci-

sion-making immediately. But there needs to be as much openness and participa-

tion as possible for peace and true reconcili ation to take rootand for strengthen-

ing civil society and democratically minded parts of the population. 2

Peaceful, Comprehensive and Sustainable Solution- womens participation brings benets

A decision-making process is legitimate if it is inclusive. The Securing the Peace

document (UNIFEM October 2005) stresses the importance of a broad base of par-

ticipation to make sustainable peace and development possible. It argues that sus-

tainable peace is contingent on community-based involvement and ownership of

the peace process and that support for womens participation in peace building

contributes to a societys efforts to recover from violent conict.3 In war, women are

activists, caretakers, providers and survivors. If womens groups on the ground in

conict areas are strengthened, they are better equipped to provide communities

hope, reaching out across barriers of identity, including clan, ethnicity, religion,

and political afliation and helping people to transcend these. They break the lines

along which groups organize and mobilize for war against each other.4

Involving women brings many benets to the peace process. Women infor-

mally monitor the implementation of the peace agreement through local net-

works and activities. For example, in Bougainville in 1998, women returned from

the peace talks to their communities and were reportedly the only leaders to

initiate an information campaign for the public to comprehend the decisions of

the peace accord and the next steps in its implementation. Women can be an

important ally in monitoring efforts, and steps must be taken to support and

guarantee their participation.5

The late Sergio Vieira de Mello, UN High Commissioner for Human Rightsand former head of the UN effort in Timor-Leste, stressed the remarkable impact

that promoting the participation of women can have in peace building and de-

velopment. He demanded increased attention to the implementation of Security

Council resolution 1325, and particularly to the right of women to participate

both in decision-making and in human rights activities. Women are a factor of

stability and reconciliation; their contribution can improve the quality of deci-

sions and thus the effectiveness of recovery efforts. At the UN Commission on the

Status of Women in New York on 7 March 2003 he said: above all, we promote

womens participation because women have an equal right to be involved in all

decisions and because their input brings value added to all decisions.

UN Secretary General Ko Annan has said that no other policy is more likely

to raise economic productivity, or to reduce infant and maternal mortality than

the empowerment of women. No other policy is as sure to improve nutrition and

promote health, includ ing the prevention of HIV/AIDS. No other poli cy is as pow-

erful in increasing the chances of education for the next generation. And no pol-

icy is more important in preventing conict, or in achieving reconciliation after

a conict has ended. Evidence also suggests that womens interests often differ

from mens and, that woman who participate directly in decision-making bodies

press for different priorities than men. Women are important agents for change.

Their perspectives, experience and active involvement are, therefore, an essential

part of a peace-building process.

2 | Human Development Report 2002, UNDP, New York 2002.

3 |SECURINGTHEPEACEGuidingtheInternationalCommunitytowardsWomensEffectiveParticipationthroughoutPeaceProcesses UNIFEM October 2005.

4 | Statement by Noeleen Heyzer, giving the Dag Hammarskold lecture in Sweden in 2004.



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The World Economic Forum study on Womens Empowerment: Measuring the

Global Gender Gap (2005) conrms Ko Annans statement as related to economic

issues. The study concludes that countries that do not fully take advantage of one

half of the talent in their population that of women are misallocating their hu-

man resources. At the Helsinki Conference in September 2005, Claros-Lopez, Chief

Economist of the World Economic Forum, said that the countries where womens

participation is highest also tend to have the best economic performance.

TheSecuringthePeace document published by UNIFEM6 lists the benets

of involving women in the peace process and how womens participation can im-

prove the maintenance of peace:

- Womens organizations persistently advocate for peace.

- Women often build a foundation for peace negotiations.

- Women can build ties among opposing factions.

- Women can increase the inclusiveness, transparency and sustainability of

the peace process.

- Women often complement ofcial peace-building efforts.

- Women can foster reconciliation and provide an example for moving

society forward.

- Women often work to sustain the peace agreement at all levels.

Creating Conditions for a Fair and Democratic Process- considerations on methods for involving women

In 2002 the UN Security Council encouraged UN member states to recognise the

vital role of women in promoting peace, particularly in preserving social order

and educating for peace. The Council encouraged its Member States and the Sec-

retary-General to establish regular contacts with local womens groups and net-

works in order to utilize their knowledge of both the impact of armed conict on

women and girls, including as victims and ex-combatants, and of peacekeepingoperations, to ensure that those groups are actively involved in reconstruction

processes, particularly at decision-making levels.7

The Security Council encouraged the member countries to develop clear

strategies and action plans with goals and timetables, on the integration of gen-

der perspectives in humanitarian operations, rehabilitation and reconstruction

programmes, including monitoring mechanisms, and also to develop targeted

activities, focused on the specic constraints facing women and girls in post-con-


7 | The UN Security Council Presidential Statement, 31 October 2002.

ict situations, such as their lack of land and property rights and access to and

control over economic resources.8

Womens full and equal and meaningful participation must be promoted at

all levels of policy and decision-making, including in public service in the imple-

mentation of the peace agreement and subsequently in the post-conict state.

The institutionalization of democratic processes is supportive of this goal. Build-

ing on the peace agreement, the steps to achieve this need to include:

Adoption of proactive special measures targeted at women to ensure their

full and equal participation at all levels of policy and decision-making.

Presentation of women as candidates for elected positions, including in

local, regional and national level elections.

Provision of nancial support and resources for women candidates, includ-

ing for leadership training, capacity building, including by bilateral and

multilateral donors and NGOs.

Inclusion, in legislation or terms of reference governing electoral funds, of ex-

plicit provisions to ensure to women full and equal access to such resources.9

The ultimate responsibility for implementing a peace agreement lies with its

signatories. The international community, however, also has a role to play in

maintaining gender issues at the forefront of their work, in accordance with

internationally agreed-upon norms and standards. Their efforts should sup-

port womens organizations by establishing specic mechanisms and/or special

measures, as called for by CEDAW and Security Council resolution 1325 (2000),

to guarantee womens full involvement throughout the implementation phase.

Such mechanisms can be realized via constitutional, judicial, legislative and elec-

toral reforms and by bodies established specically to monitor the implementa-

tion of the accords. Moreover, key facets of the agreement, such as a timeframe

for implementation and the distribution of funds for reconstruction, must make

explicit reference to gender issues. The international community can back the

implementation process through training, gender-sensitive resource allocation,

support to womens organizations and capacity building.10

8 | idem.

9 | The Expert Group Meeting on peace agreements as a mean for promoting gender equality and ensuring partici-

pation of women (December 2003).10 |SECURINGTHEPEACEGuidingtheInternationalCommunitytowardsWomensEffectiveParticipationthroughout

PeaceProcesses UNIFEM October 2005.


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The Second All Acehnese Womens Congress (Duek Pakat Inong Aceh II ), in June

2005 gathered more than 400 women representatives from all 21 districts of

Aceh urging the Government of Indonesia and the GAM, inter alia, to ensure

the participation of women in the Aceh peace process through a non-violent and

democratic approach.11 The congress also led to a recommendation to establish

womens spaces known locally as balai inong - to permit women to participate

more in political, social, economic and cultural decision-making. 12 UNIFEM pro-

vided support for convening the congress and has also adopted this recommen-

dation, which is expected to contribute towards consolidating the peace process.

The WomensPolicyNetwork The Womens Policy Network JPUK has made

efforts to enhance womens involvement in drafting the LoGA. JPUK has organ-

ised a focus group discussion of women activists to review the rst draft LoGA,

carried out advocacy to promote a gendered understanding of the draft LoGA

and assisted women activists lobbying efforts in both Banda Aceh and Jakarta.

UNIFEM has provided technical and nancial assistance to this work through

the local womens organization Mitra Sejati Perempuan Indonesia (MISPI). Apart

from direct advocacy support to retaining gender provision in LoGa, UNIFEM is

also liaising wi th the local medi a to support Womens Policy Networks advocacy

efforts to understand womens aspirations regarding the LoGA, and to publicize

womens involvement in it.

On 12 june 2006 Acehnese women activists declared the Aceh Inong League

(Lina) in Banda Aceh. The league was established to accommodate political aspi-

rations of Acehnese women. According to press statements, the league aims at

encouraging womens participation in politics and at building the capacity by

providing training on practical and political skills to develop economic empow-

erment. The aim is also to restore the dignity of Acehnese women to what it was

before the conict and to promote womens self-esteem, reminding people that

Acehnese women were queens and leaders.13

Women in Aceh have been active and done part of the homework for the sig-

natories of the MoU. The workshop on: Enhancement of Womens NGOs that

was held on 15 February-19 February 2006 in Banda Aceh outlined the expected

outputs as follows:

The existence of a network of womens organisations that understand

womens issues

Plans for regular meetings and improved communicationsThe initiation of dialogue between womens groups and key stakeholders

in the peace process

Improved understanding of the MoU and peace process so far among

womens NGOs

Enhanced capacity of womens NGOs to educate their benecary popu-

lations about the peace process and solicit information about womens

needs

11 | UNIFEM, Womens Voices in Aceh Reconstruction: the Second All-Acehnese Womens Congress, pp.12.

12 | UNIFEM Aceh, Programme Summary Report, December 2005, pp.2.

13 | Womens political forum created in Aceh, an article in Tempo Interactive on 13 June 2006.


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The following text is a direct translation of views, opinions, wishes and sugges-

tions provided by Acehnese women and womens organisations in interviews

that CMI carried out together with CCDE. CMI and CCDE met wit h representatives

from eight womens organisations as well as with women from the eld. Altogeth-

er about 50 people participated in discussions with CMI during the visit to Aceh

from 19 to 23 March 2006. Women and womens organisations were promised

that their names will not be revealed in this report to enable people to express

their views and wishes more openly. Views from GAM are also included in this

section.

Peace brings freedom

All the women and womens organisations CMI met in Aceh said t hat maintaining

peace and making it long-lasting is a top priority for them. They also conrmed

that the same view is shared by the numerous women they work with in all parts

of Aceh Province. Women feel that with peace in Aceh they can have freedom

again: freedom to farm, to do business, to work and to travel. They are looking

forward to having more opportunities to express themselves freely in the process

of developing a peaceful Aceh. They wish to participate more in decision making,

especially in issues such as education or health.

Despite their positive attitude, women in Aceh said that they are worried

about peace. They feel they do not get enough information, and they are not in-

volved in processes related to peace. This reminds people of the bad experience

they had when the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA) made in 2002 did

not hold, and the conict worsened in 2003. Some women expressed concern that

developments in the peace process seem to benet some people more than oth-

ers, and women are not among beneciaries even former female GAM combat-

ants do not benet from the process.

Women were only marginally involved in the peace process

Women and womens groups said that barring some activists and academics they

were not involved in the peace process. Women interviewed described that in

Aceh today most men and women think that it is not a womans business to

participate in discussions and decision making on issues related to society or

politics. This is the reason why GAM has also found it difcult to involve women.

II Towards a Solution with Dignity for All - The Peace Process as seen by women in Aceh

Womens organisations conrm that based on their discussions in the prov-

ince, women from different backgrounds and environments would still like to be

heard. Women would like to inuence policies. After the Peace Agreement was

signed between the Government and GAM, activist women have made attempts

to have womens voices heard in processes like law development or distribution

of donor assistance.

Women established a network

Women said that the main forum for their views on the peace process has been

the Womens Peace Network that was established in December 2005 with the

purpose of womens groups working together more closely, for women to get

more information about the peace process and to be better heard in the peaceprocess, and above all, to support development of permanent peace in Aceh. It

includes 26 organisations.

The network wishes to study what women know about peace and what their

understanding of the MoU is, as well as to nd out how peace impacts the com-

munity, and what is the capacity, potential and needs of women. There is a plan to

give the results of the survey to the AMM.

The network also aims at socialising the MoU, at developing an understand-

ing of community rights, at strengthening and improving womens participation

in the peace building strategy, and developing outreach materials targeted at

women for improving the capacity of women in the decision making process.

Women were hardly heard in developing the LoGA

Women told that only two women participated in the process of drafting the Law

on Governance of Aceh the work supported by UNIFEM. These two individuals

also take part in the work of the above-mentioned network.

Women said that based on consultations with womens organisations, they

proposed a list of 15 issues that should be included in the LoGA. Six out of these

15 issues were taken into account in the draft that was sent to Jakarta, the re-

maining 9 issues were left out.

Womens groups discussed the law and gave examples on how some issues

could work. UNIFEM organised a meeting to discuss womens participation in

drafting the law. Womens groups reported that UNIFEM has promised to help

womens efforts in the future to have their opinions taken into account in LoGA.

Since the LoGA was submitted to Parliament, activist women have met with

the Parliamentary Committee on the Law on Governing Aceh for the purpose of


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0

getting womens views reected in the law. Activist women have also written to

local newspapers to highlight their opinions and wishes. Women have a common

agreement on the need for specic laws that take women and children into ac-

count.

Women assured that they will continue monitoring the preparation and con-

sequent implementation of the law closely. Now that Sharia law is included in

the draft version of the law, women and womens organisations are worried that

it will seriously limit freedom of women. Women dont want to criticise Sharia

law in public as they are afraid that they would be seen as disrespectful to the

Islam. Women stress that Sharia law is not necessarily bad but it allows many

interpretations, and judgements are not always fair. Women said that they feel

that people are not equal in front of the law and that they have experiences and

examples that support this fear. Women are afraid that especially religious lead-

ers can make unpredictable judgments on women.

Organisations do not seem to have many resources to support women

AMM, which has the mandate to monitor the implementation of the peace agree-

ment, reckons that there has not been enough support to womens groups and

there have not been sufcient efforts to ensure that women are involved in the

process. Due to resource limitati ons, AMM does not pay special attention t o wom-

ens participation in the peace process. AMM has worked to encourage different

organisations to go public with their opinions and views, including womens or-

ganisations.

There was also feedback from the interviews with some women that they

do not have access to information and their views are not heard. The Ministry

of Womens Empowerment, which has the mandate for womens issues in the

Government of Indonesia, does consult women activists for their views. However,

women felt that this consultation should extend to all women-stakeholders, forordinary women to have their opinions heard.

The Governors ofce has a bureau for Womens Empowerment as well as a

gender working group. This was seen to be a good practice. Limited resources,

however, were seen to be a constraint for the Bureau. This should be addressed in

order for the bureau to translate the data collected into tangible improvements

to womens empowerment.

Women would like to be heard and to make decisions

All women interviewed said that they wish that their lives would become better

in Aceh. At the same time, they realise that many things remain gender biased.

For example, women feel that relief is distributed unequally, and that both the

government and the international organisations prioritise men.

Acehnese women wish that they would be invited to ta lk about the law, and

that they would have means and methods and platforms to express their views

so that they can be taken into account. Village meetings should involve women as

well. It is important to create a space where women are comfortable to speak.

Many of those interviewed reiterated that the majority of people affected by

the conict are women. Also, the majority of the people displaced because of the

conict are women. Internally displ aced women have considerable challenges to

overcome: they have been in camps for many years. They have lost their hous-

es, land and other property. They have lost their rights. They are discriminated

against. They have noticed that they dont get relief like other people do. Womens

groups feel that displaced women cannot be involved now other women need

to struggle for them too.


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Women also said that they see the land ownership as an imp ortant question.

In marriages, land certicates are solely in male names. There are hardly any

women who have land certicates in their names.

All womens organisations conrmed that the understanding and informa-

tion on the Peace Agreement has not reached the majority of women so far. The

socialisation of the MoU must adopt new strategies to reach women. It was sug-

gested that to better understand the MoU, GAM and the military need to sit to-

gether in villages and create a real, concrete MoU, for example by personally

making the promise not to continue ghting and terror anymore, and by explic-

itly apologising about what happened during the conict. Women said that this

process would not need much money it needs real people to make a real com-

mitment. A top priority for women is to maintain peace. Women conrmed that

people dont want to be bitter about the past, but to get on with their lives in a

peaceful Aceh.

All interviewees conrmed that women want and need information, training

and encouragement to participate in meetings and in decision-making on the fu-

ture of Aceh. Both GAM and the government agreed that womens active partici-

pation in implementing the Peace Agreement is highly recommended. As there

are no resources allocated for this purpose, both parties suggested that external

organisations support training of women.

Women make Aceh more peaceful and more prosperous

The Acehnese women and men who were interviewed said that women have tra-

ditionally been involved in decision making in Aceh. The history books list prom-

inent Acehnese women that were admirals, queens and guerrilla leaders during

the colonial era and are now considered Indonesian heroines. The current peace

process discussion includes too much emphasis on the dress code (related to the

Sharia law) and not enough discussion on women being in the position to havetheir views heard. Also, some people expressed the opinion that Aceh should

trust and believe in the fact that it has the right position in Islam. It does not

need to import trends, such as women wearing head scarves, from other Islamic

cultures. People praised Islam and said it is unique in Aceh; it could even serve as

an example to the rest of the Islamic world. Some interviewees stressed that the

Islamic culture allows women to be liberated.

There is a need to build understanding. Interviewees stressed that womens

potential lies in the fact that they are the most neutral p arty to the conict. When

building understanding, cultural components in peace and reconstruction need

to be taken into account. Women have the potential to be neutral promoters of

peace.

Women have local knowledge and local networks. If women are involved in

the peace process, they can keep peace at the village level as well. They teach

peace to children and to men in the family.

The interviewees strongly believe that womens involvement will also benet

Aceh economically as it will improve business and the economy: it is proven that,

in societies where there is more equality between men and women, the economy

fares better. For instance, when both husband and wife work, it improves the -

nancial situation of the family. The brain potential of involving women should

also be taken into account the interviewer was told that women get higher

grades at university.


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CMI held discussions in March 2006 with parties to the peace process while

in Aceh and in Jakarta. The results of those discussions are presented in this

chapter.

Ministry for Political and Security Affairs (Polkam)Deputy Minister Usman Bashya

Deputy Minister Usman Bashya praised the spirit of peace in Aceh. The will to

create and build a peaceful Aceh is the most essential tool in ensuring the suc-

cess of the peace process. It is important that people in Aceh support and want tomaintain peace. Womens commitment in this is highly appreciated.

The government is aware that most of the victims of the conict were wom-

en and that women are strong supporters for peace. The Deputy Minister con-

rmed that for the Indonesian government, the Ministry for Women ensures that

womens concerns are also included in the Aceh Peace Process. The Ministry for

Women was also involved in drafting the LoGA. In addition qanuns (local regula-

tions) will ensure that the law is the same for everyone, for women and men.

The Deputy Minister mentioned that the Government would welcome sup-

port from the international community in strengthening womens participation

in the implementation of the Aceh peace process, in coordination and collabora-

tion with the Government and other actors.

Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Directorate for Human Rights

and Humanitarian AffairsMs Wiwiek Setyawati and Mr Jonny Sinaga

For Acehnese, women have long been playing a very i mportant role. Not only dur-

ing the struggle against colonialization, as exemplied by the famous national

heroine Cut Nya Dien, but even after indepe ndence, the role of women continues

to be a paramount importance in Aceh.

In Indonesia actually there exists a legislation (presidential decree) on gen-

der mainstreaming. There is a national machinery for the advancement of wom-

en in the form of the Ministry for Empowerment for Women that looks after the

implementation of womens rights, supported by lower level machineries at the

provincial level in the form of bureaus in every Governors ofce in all provinces

of Indonesia.

III Government recognises the role ofwomen in the peace process

The Indonesian Government is continuing the process of ensuring human

rights commitments in the development programs. The Law on the Administra-

tion of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, which has been adopted by the Parliament

recently will guarantee full implementation of womens rights in Aceh in accor-

dance with the rights recognized by the international human rights conventions.

The suggested steps include:

1. Ratifying the international human rights conventions

2. Disseminating information to local governments of the ratied

human rights conventions and their harmonization with local regulations.

3. When awareness of the law exists, establishing coordination for

human rights for women. It would be a regional authority.

4. Nominating a deputy minister to be in charge of the promotion and

protection of womens rights in a coordinating ministry.

It should be remembered that it is important that government ofcials are aware

of and understand the issue. Only after that can the information be disseminated

to villages, and only then can mechanisms be set up to involve women.

It is the Governments duty to ensure that ratied conventions are enforced,

including the UN Security Council Resolution 1325. The Government would like

to ensure that the LoGA would take existing ratied international conventions

into account.

In the case of the LoGA there are mechanisms to ensure that the law treats

people equally. Qanuns (local regulations) should be strengthened and dissemi-

nated so that they give clear guidance on how that law should be interpreted. This

should provide equal treatment to everyone also in the case of the Sharia law. The

National Plan of Action on Human Rights has now provincial and counc il level lo-

cal committees that aim at ensuring that the law is the same for everyone.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs stressed that it is very important for the

government, that women and men have equal ri ghts, also in Aceh.

The Governors ofce

The Governors ofce said that they consider the full part icipation of women very

important, especially as the majority of the Acehnese are women. However, one

should realise that womens participation cannot happen so fast. Efforts have

been made to involve women: for example two out of the 24 members of the

Joint Forum are women.

The Bureau for Womens Empowerment in the Ofce of the Governor hopes

that the Parliament pays attention to womens views regarding the law. There are


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several ways to inuence this: issues can be brought up in womens networks and

in the working group on gender issues. It should be remembered that the law has

been put together withi n a very short timeframe it has not always been possible

to consult all parties. Women need to be very active to be heard in that process:

women can write to newspapers, women need to speak in public (even if they

participate in seminars and meetings, women often dont speak).

If resources allow, the bureau hopes to improve womens economic and busi-

ness skills by training, including the provision of capital and life skills such as

sewing. The bureau also hopes to do work to e mpower women in villages. Specic

objectives are the elimination of violence against women and also actions that

help to take care of children.

The bureau collaborates with womens networks on issues regarding the

LoGA. It will also be involved in the socialisation programme (Tim Socialisasi)

where the government and GAM are working with AMM to explain the MOU to

the Acehnese people. The intention is that women would also be aware of the

MOU. The bureau said that in Banda Aceh there have been several meetings with

womens networks to provide information on the MOU.

The assessment carried out by UNIFEM found that womens involvement in the

implementation of the MoU has thus far been limited. First, implementation of

the MoU is the responsibility of the parties that signed the agreement (or par-

ticular institutions as mandated by the parties14); namely, the GoI and the GAM.

However, there are few women working in positions within these two bodies that

can substantially contribute to implementation.15 Second, because the MoU is a

technical and politicised document with terms and concepts that still require de-

velopment, contributing to the process of developing these terms and concepts,

and then later their implementation, requires a substantial level of political andlegal knowledge and familiarity. This requirement has almost automatically ex-

cluded the vast majority of Acehnese women from the process as they largely

lack this knowledge a nd familiarity. Indeed, those women who have contributed

tend to be activists with a signicant level of formal education and who are gen-

erally afliated to an institution such as a university or NGO.16

The small number of women working in relevant institutions and the techni-

cal nature of impl ementing provisions of the MoU may explain the small number

of women involved in its implementation. However, interviews with a range of

stakeholders, including the women ac tivists who are involved, the GoI, GAM and

Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), indicate that the contributions of even these

women activists have also been limited. While there may be other factors, the as-

sessment identied the following as principal reasons limiting womens involve-

ment or contributions to implementing the MoU.

First, cultural paradigms in Aceh have restricted womens involvement in

the political sphere. Many Acehnese men believe that women do not have a role

to play in politics; a perception which limits the space afforded them. Interest-ingly, many Acehnese women submit to the same gender constructions and are

therefore disinterested in contributing to the MoUs implementation.17

IV Expert Assessment on Womens Involvementin the Aceh Peace Process by UNIFEM

14 | Such institutions include: the Provincial or National Parliaments, responsible for promulgating a new Law on

Governing Aceh (as per article 1.1.1 of the MoU); the GAMs MoU Council (MajelisMoUGAM), responsible for imple-mentation of the Peace Agreement; the GAMs Aceh Transitional Committee (KomisiPeralihanAceh,KPA), respon-

sible inter alia for reintegration; and the GoIs Aceh Reintegration Agency ( BadanReintegrasiAceh,BRA), also re-

sponsible for reintegration (as per section 3.2 of the MoU).15 | Interview, XXX, AMM, DATE.

16 | Interview, Puspa Dewy, Solidaritas Perempuan Aceh, 25 May 2006. Dewy explains that peace for the majorityof Acehnese must be understood not in the terms outlined by the MoU, which for the average citizen remain intan-

gible, but instead in terms of physical security and the ensuing freedoms that entails.

17 | Interviews, Khairani and Siti Maisarah, RelawanPerempuanuntukKebijakan(RPUK), 22 May 2006.


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A second factor identied by women activists is the failure to recognise the

need to address womens rights as human rights by counterparts in the institu-

tions mandated to implement provisions of the MoU. For example, members of

the Womens Policy Network that campaigned for the insertion of gender-sensi-

tive provisions in the draft Law on Governing Aceh (LoGA) asserted that male

Members of Parliament were reluctant to include such provisions because they

considered their focus on women to be negatively discriminatory to men.18 Wom-

en activists note that articl e 4 of CEDAW states that temporary special measures

aimed at accelerating de facto equality between men and women shall not be

considered discrimination, but point out that the prevailing leadership in those

institutions mandated to implement provisions of the MoU do not or are reluc-

tant to recognise this.

Third, womens organisations cite exhausted capacity as a critical factor lim-

iting their involvement in implementing the MoU. 19 A large array of issues is to

be addressed with regards to promoting womens rights in the context of peace.

Yet womens organisations are nding it difcult to undertake their important

grassroots activities, while also contributing to higher level policy discussions

and advocacy with regards to MoU implementation, due to a lack of human re-

sources.20 Adding to this is the fact that, as noted by some women activists, while

male counterparts in NGOs work full-time, a large number of women activists

contribute only on a par t-time basis as they have other, especially family, obliga-

tions as well.

The Womens Peace Networ21 will serve to strengthen the capacity of mem-

ber organisations by combining resources. However, it is new and has yet to -

nalise its objectives and strategy to promote womens issues.

Women activists are quick to explain that Sharia ?Syariah law in Aceh is not,

in itself, a direct factor limiting their involvement in the MoUs implementation.

However, the need to monitor the way in which Sharia law? Syariah develops and

is enforced - to ensure that womens rights are protected - is further exhausting

18 | Interview, Arabiyani, UNIFEM, 18 May 2006.

19 | Interviews, Erwin Setiawan, Flower Aceh, 23 May 2006, and Puspa Dewy, Solidaritas Perempuan Aceh, 25 May 2006.

20 | Solidaritas Perempuan Aceh explained that nancial resources are not the issue, as donors have channelledmore funds than the organisations capacity can absorb. The problem is a lack of human resources, particularly as

many qualied and committed Acehnese women have gone to work for international organisations since the tsu-

nami. Interview, Puspa Dewy, Solidaritas Perempuan Aceh, 25 May 2006.21 | The Womens Peace Network is a network of 25 Acehnese womens organisations that have joined forces to strat-

egise ways to promote womens rights within peace building efforts and womens contributions to these efforts. TheNetwork was established in December 2005.

their capacity and, as a result, indirectly limiting their involvement in the MoUs

implementation.22

Finally, the assessment identied the role of and contributions made by the

international community as a critical determinant in ensuring womens involve-

ment and promoting the MoUs implementation in a gender-sensitive manner.

Donor countries are important stakeholders. Their contributions and input can

enhance the gender accountability component in the formulation and imple-

mentation of the MoU. This can be achieved by urging the parties to the MoU for

gender accountability. For example, with regards to the LoGA, women activists

consider that the insistence by the Partnership for Governance Reform, a multi-

stakeholder facility funded by UNDP, the World Bank and others, for womens

issues to be incorporated into draft versions was critical to the relative success of

these efforts.23 Women activists suggest that the international community may

play a much greater role in calling for gender mainstreaming within the imple-

mentation process.

Despite the above limitations, it is important to highlight the contributions

that women have made to the MoUs implementation and to ensuring that wom-

ens rights are represented in this process. The assessment found that womens

contributions have largely occurred through the establishment of structures in

parallel to the various institutions mandated with the MoUs implementation.

Examples of these parallel structures include the establishment of the

Womens Peace Network mentioned above, the Womens Policy Network (Jarin-

gan Perempuan Untuk Kebijakan, JPUK)24 and, most recently, the as-yet-untitled

network of womens organisations strategising on the Truth and Reconciliation

Commission (as provided for by article 2.3 of the MoU). 25 Information collected,

conclusions drawn and strategies developed in these structures are then chan-

22 | A number of women activists consider that the WilayatulHisbah (WH), the body mandated to monitor and

guide Muslims adherence to Sharia, has overstepped its authority, particularly when it detained a group of threewomen activists on February 19th 2006 for allegedly not wearing headscarves in a public space. A group of these

activists are currently ling a claim against the WH and have established themselves as the Women Victims of Poli-

cies Network (JaringanPerempuanKorbanKebijakan,JPKK).The term policies was chosen to distinguish betweenthe policies and actions of the WH and the requirements ofSharia Law. Women activists point out that they are not

opposed to Syariah, which they believe confers rights upon women. Instead, they are opposed to the policies thathave been adopted by the WH to enforce Sharia.

23 | Interviews, Khairani and Siti Maisarah, RelawanPerempuanuntukKebijakan(RPUK), 22 May 2006, and Erwin

Setiawan, Flower Aceh, 23 May 2006.24 | The JPUK was established in 2004 to campaign for the revocation of a number of non-gender sensitive provi-

sions of the Law Governing Direct Elections. After the MoU, the JPUK focused its efforts on campaigning for gender

sensitive provisions in the draft Law on Governing Aceh.25 | The womens organisation Flower Aceh facilitated a seminar concerning the establishment of a Truth and

Reconciliation Commission and its implications for women that was attended by womens organisations on 24 May2006. The seminar was intended to mark the beginning of serious discussions among womens organisations as to

the contributions they might make to ensure that the Commissions establishment promotes justice for women.


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0

nelled to the AMM, GoI or GAM and advocacy efforts undertaken to encourage the

Parties to the MoU to agree to the inputs provided.

In conclusion, there are a number of factors that have limited womens in-

volvement in the implementation of the MoU in Aceh. These limitations must be

addressed if womens involvement a critical element to ensure a sustainable

peace in Aceh, as argued elsewhere in this report is to be enhanced. Neverthe-

less, women activists and womens organisations are carving out a position for

themselves from which, albeit in indirect ways, they are able to contribute to the

MoUs implementation. Despite the limitations listed above, women are nding

creative means to ensure that their input to the peace process is heard.

Due to their grassroots activitie s, womens organisations possess substantial

information that is required to inform the effective implementation of the MoU.

For this, among other reasons, it is important to enhance womens involvement

in its implementation.

The assessment identied a number of entry points for greater involvement

in the above and other provisions of the MoU. First, grassroots activities under-

taken by womens organisations provide an effective entry point for enhancing

womens involvement in implementing the above provisions as already estab-

lished links with local communities may be built upon to initiate other activi-

ties. Regarding article 1.2.6 of the MOU, promising full participation of all Aceh-

nese people to national and local elections, womens organisations may utilise

their links with womens communities to undertake women voter education pro-

grammes to promote womens participation in upcoming elections. One womens

organisation, FlowerAceh, has already undertaken such programmes.26

Concerning article 2.3, womens organisations have been engaged early on

over the issue of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (see footnote 11). This

early engagement provides another strong entry point for involvement, includ-

ing on the implementati on of article 2.2, concerning a Human Rights Court. Wom-

ens organisations can capitalise on their early start to draft a clear strategy of

their expectations for the Court and Commission. The Womens Peace Network, as

a unied voice of some 25 womens groups, can provide a strong platform from

which to launch this strategy for consideration by the GoI in the establishment

of the two institutions.

26 | Interview, Erwin Setiawan, Flower Aceh, 23 May 2006.

Additionally, while not directly arising from the MoU, womens involvement

will be important in the drafting of qanun (local laws) that will detail provisions

of the LoGA once it is promulgated. According to one respondent, women activ-

ists estimate that there will be an estimated 87 qanuns arising from the LoGA

that will have specic relevance for women.27 The existence and experience of

the Womens Policy Network (JPUK) provides a strong entry point for womens

enhanced involvement in ensuring that gender is ma instreamed into the process

of drafting these laws.

A third entry point for greater involvement is the existence of the National

Womens Commission (KOMNAS Perempuan) and its already active presence in

Aceh. KOMNAS Perempuan can contribute to womens involvement by monitor-

ing and evaluating the Parties to the MoUs commitment to address gender is-

sues and ensure gender mainstreaming.

27 | Interview, Pudji Aswati, UNDP, 17 May 2006.


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GAM and the government are admired and appreciated by the international com-

munity for showing their strong commitment to peace. Both parties also agree

that womens contribution to the peace process is important. Good performance

in implementing the peace agreement and efforts to ensure lasting peace can be

improved by introducing actions that enable womens participation in the pro-

cess. The Aceh case could be used as an example to other peace processes around

the world also in this respect.

Women, representing the majority of the Acehnese thus also form the ma-

jority of the decision makers in a democratic system. It is not possible to set upa democratic system and ignore the majority of the people. The future of Aceh

would benet from women being more aware of developments and processes,

and having the means and the possibility to participate in these now. A solution

can be peaceful, comprehensive and sustainable with dignity for all if it is that

to men and women alike.

GAM and the government should make it more public and more visible that

they consider it very important that women are equally involved in the imple-

mentation of the MOU, and that they are aware that womens contribution is

needed to attain l asting peace. To make the article 8 of t he Security Council Reso-

lution 1325 a reality, the parties should make gender mainstreaming a strategic

priority in implementing the peace process, in particular by emphasising the

special needs of women and girls during reintegration and post-conict recon-

struction

GAM and the government (both at the national and at the local level) could

inform their representatives at all levels on the importance of making an effort

to involve women in the peace process, recognising that additional methodsare needed to enable womens participation. In the spirit of CEDAW (Convention

on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women), the parties

should adopt a strategy for implementation of the MoU and for consolidating

peace based on a principle of afrmative action to ensure womens active partici-

pation in all aspects of political, social, economic and cultural life.

GAM and the government are congratulated for their on-going efforts to so-

cialise the MOU to the Acehnese. They could check that the acti ons aimed at mak-

ing women aware of the peace process are reaching as many women as men, and

if needed, these efforts could be enhanced.

V Conclusions and Recommendations

The Law on Governing of Aceh should also be socialised to all Acehnese,

women and men alike.

Womens networks have on-going plans and act ions to facil itate womens in-

volvement and to express womens aspirations. GAM and the government should

collaborate on a regular basis with these networks and womens organisations to

facilitate their own attempts to reach women.

GAM and the government should allocate more resources (including human,nancial, technical and other resources) to ensure that women are fully involved

in the implementation of the peace process and the MOU. Based on the principle

of afrmative action, the parties should utilise needs assessments conducted by

womens organisations to allocate a set and generous propor tion of funds, rst, to

enhance womens involvement in the peace process and, second, to compensate

women survivors of the conict.

GAM and the government should identify such methods of training, infor-

mation sharing and opinion expression that can reach women and that are easily

available to women. The current methods reach men much better than women.


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GAM and the government should provide training on womens rights and

gender sensitive programming to all their staff involved in implementing the

MoU. Both GAM and the government should establish complaints mechanisms

and codes of conduct with clear and strong sanctions for staff found discriminat-

ing on the basis of gender.

GAM and the government should ensure that women are properly represent-

ed in all organisations and decision-making bodies that deal with issues related

to the implementation of the MOU.

GAM and the government could make specic requests to the internation-

al community to support the efforts of involving women. However, it should be

stressed that outside support should not be the main method of enhancing wom-

ens involvement showing, that this issue is a priority to both parties of the

peace agreement is very important.

GAM and the government should request that any actors supporti ng them in

implementing the peace process make special efforts to involve women.


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UNIFEM, East and Southeast Asia Regional

Office, UN Building th Floor, Rajdamnern

Avenue, Bangkok 000, Thailand

[email protected]

Pieni Roobertinkatu B

000 Helsinki

Finland

[email protected]

Jln. Elang Timur No. Blang

Cut Lueng Bata, 00 Banda Aceh

Indonesia

[email protected]

Aceh Involvement of Women

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