After three years, EngageMedia bids goodbye as the lead facilitator of the Indonesia Inklusi network. This was part of Linking and Learning Indonesia, a project that supports communities, groups, and organisations working on such issues as human rights, disability, digital media and technology, the environment, and more.
During our time as lead facilitator, Indonesia Inklusi aimed to understand the context of each marginalised and discriminated community within the framework of intersectionality. Derived from a feminist theory, intersectionality has also become an analytical tool to understand unique experience due to layered identities, particularly in responding to the related forces of oppression and privilege.
We also saw within our term, from November 2017 to October 2020, the growing interest among grantees in issues related to technology, the internet, and media that are inclusive and secure – issues that align with our other projects on digital rights and open and secure technology.
The Linking and Learning platform allows Voice grantees and their communities – many of whom are from marginalised and discriminated groups – to come out of their silos, reflect on unique and shared experiences, and exchange lessons learned from their respective community development work. Additionally, their cultural backgrounds (mostly in Asia and Africa) have allowed informal learning spaces to flourish amidst constant political turmoil and challenges in the formal education system.
Our last year as lead facilitator marked a major change in the Linking and Learning process. The COVID-19 pandemic forced us to continue our work online and remotely, especially considering the high number of cases in the country. Rooted in a participatory approach, we worked with the grantees to hold online learning sessions (or sesi belajar daring) and ensure that these were led and conducted collaboratively between the different member organisations.
Having intersectionality as a framework, the learning sessions expounded on various topics, inviting grantees to not only raise public awareness but to also encourage public participation in addressing social and environmental issues. The topics discussed during these sessions included:
- Universal basic human rights for marginalised communities
- Indigenous communities and the digital divide
- Women’s position in the socio-cultural tradition
- Stigma against disability groups
- Violence against women
- Drug regulation and the overcapacity of prisons
- Gender and intersectionality
- Secure communication
- Penal code reformation
On top of these learning sessions, the Voice grantees actively collaborated to produce content on and publicise their current initiatives. Among those published on the Indonesia Inklusi website were an article from Sumba Integrated Development with indigenous artists in Sumba and local women activists from SOPAN (Solidaritas Perempuan dan Anak), and a campaign from ERAT Indonesia with Teater Garasi.
Watch: The first Indonesia Inklusi online learning session.
