Since May 2022, the IPAS Indonesia Foundation has been exploring collaboration with a new CSO partner, namely KPKPST (Women’s Equality Struggle Group of Central Sulawesi), which is based in Palu. KPKPST has been working for over twenty years in Central Sulawesi, in the aftermath of the Poso conflict and the 2018 earthquake-tsunami disaster, to advocate for women’s issues.
KPKPST works with grassroots community women by establishing women-friendly spaces and sexual violence complaint posts, and by training women to become leaders in their respective communities. These women leaders serve as community facilitators in their daily lives and are able to educate their peers on various issues. Currently, KPKPST supports 20 villages spread across Sigi and Donggala Regencies.
Knowledge regarding women’s sexual and reproductive health is a fundamental right. However, access to this knowledge is often challenging due to various factors, such as the limited number of healthcare professionals in villages, infrequent reproductive health education, and long distances to healthcare facilities. KPKPST and the IPAS Indonesia Foundation share a unified vision that it is crucial for women to possess comprehensive knowledge about their sexual and reproductive health.
Before initiating the women’s organizing and policy advocacy project scheduled for July – October 2022, IPAS provided capacity building to field coordinators and community leaders supported by KPKPST through VCAT Training. Value Clarification and Attitude Transformation is a training designed to explore and clarify an individual’s personal values concerning knowledge of gender equality and sexual and reproductive health.
This training was directly delivered by Dr. Marcia Soumokil, MPH, Director of the IPAS Indonesia Foundation, for a full day and was attended by 18 participants. (*)