Capacity building activities for WRI staff have been designed to boost their confidence as well as increase their competency in formulating, implementing, and monitoring an appropriate or workable strategy, and evaluate its effects within a certain time periode. As a research institute, WRI staff must obtain adequate experience to implement qualitative research as well as qualitative research. Also, acquaire competency in doing profound analyzes in order to contribute to the improvement of the quality of the condition and position of women in Indonesia.

 

This activities which were held in Thailand on August 27 to September 15, 2007 have many purposes:

• To increase the knowledge about Women’s Human Rights in international level and national level by participating in the 6th Leadership Course on Gender, Sexuality and Health in Southeast Asia and China

• To provide the participants with context-specific and gender sensitive knowledge on sexuality and sexual health in Southeast Asia and China. Special attention will be devoted to exploring how conceptual and theoretical frameworks, especially gender and socio-cultural theories, can be applied to policy and interventions

• To explore these perspectives, which can be applied to research, training, advocacy, policy formulation and evaluation to improve sexual and reproductive health programs in the region.

• Networks emerge with other participants of the course, which will expand WRI staff horizon and access to information sharing with them.

 

Activities During the Grant Period

WEEK ONE (27 August–2 September, 2007)

Theoretical Perspectives: concept and framework

In this first week participants introduced each other about background and expectations and also get information about course structure and house rules. Participants learned and explored concepts about sexuality, gender and body, gendered body, female body, male body, sexual body, body politics, and how it influenced into the individual, family, community, societal and global context. Participants found the content of this session from the materials/handouts enhanced the presentation, books/articles required readings, and also from the group discussion that gave many beneficial to understanding the concepts from trainer. At the end of week participants had a day time fieldwork (field trip activity) at the Chatuja, Varacak, Wat Pho and the Gand Palace to learned about sexual norms, representations and practices.

WEEK TWO (3-9 September, 2007)

Theoretical Perspectives: context and structures

 

In second week participants learned concept about power structures and their impact on reproductive and sexual health, understanding about historical, social structural, public health, state/nation, religion, media, migration and how their impact in sexual inequalities, social inequalities. How we can encourage women about their agency, negotiation and resistance in the order to encounter inequalities situation in sexual and social contexts. For instance, how to empowerment women to fight about their rights to get safe sex, wanted and protected sex with their partner and access to health care services. Participants found the content of this session from the materials/handouts enhanced the presentation, books/articles required readings, films and also from the group discussion.

 

In the day eleven, participants moved to Rayong and stay at Kanary Bay Resort for 4 days. We had three field trips :

• Field visit to Center for AIDS Rights (CAR), Rayong: Cross-Border Migrations, Gender, Sexuality and Health. In this place participants interviewed with migrant workers in their residence and working place to get insight about their situation. We learned about facts of migrant workers’ lives (both legal & illegal), learn about the CAR structure, networking and CAR’s activities to protect/ prevent migrant workers from HIV/AIDS.

• Field visit to One Stop Crisis Center, Rayong Hospital: Health Services for Victims of Gender-Based Violence. In this place participants learned about the violence problem, learned about the OSCC structure, networking for VAW victims health services. Joined this activities give me important information about one stop crisis center system with gender sensitive that it can compare with Women Crisis Center organization in Indonesia.

• Field visit to Sister Office, Pattaya, Chonburi: Outreach Programmes for Trangender Sex Workers. Sisters organization began operation as a transgender-targeted health counseling center in Pattaya City, Thailand in 2005. The center is a place where transgender people are respected and not unfairly judged, where they can take a break and feel safe, learn without being lectured, and take steps towards a positive future, adopting improves self-worth and safer behaviors. HIV prevention activities are peer-based, carefully tailored to the population and employ specific behavior change messaging.

 

WEEK THREE (10-15 September, 2007)

Context-Secific and Gender-Sensitive Research, Program Intervention and Advocacy: Theoretical perspectives Applied

In the third week participants focus to field work presentation, but from the first we learned about context-specific and gender sensitive research, program intervention, and advocacy on sexuality and sexual health (Case Studies). We also remapping sexual health issues in Southeast Asia and China. Participants have two days to prepare in the group and individual work with mentors to prepare for project redesign and then we had to presentation of the project proposal. All the field work presentation process was very important because each participants learned how to apply theoretical conceptual framework into social context with the proposal which assistance by trainer. There are three trainers to assist participants improving their proposal.

 

Output of Activities

• Strengthening critical theoretical perspectives on gender and sexuality and understanding the socio-cultural, political and historical context of gender and sexuality in Southeast Asia and China.

• Ability to explore these perspectives, which can be applied to research, training, advocacy, policy formulation and evaluation to improve sexual and reproductive health programs in the region.

• Networks emerge with other participants of the course, which will expand WRI staff horizon and access to information sharing with them.

 

The Achievement of Programme

There are some achievements of this programme. First, WRI staff has increased the capacity in Women Human Rights by participating in the 6th Leadership Course on Gender, Sexuality and Health in Southeast Asia and China. WRI staff can also get the sencitiveness in analyzing the condition and position of women related to the issue of gender, sexuality and health by using gender perspective. Besides, WRI staff gets more knowledges and experiences from other participants and another country in Southeast Asia and China by participating in the 6th Leadership Course. Participating in that workshop has opened the mind of WRI staff in analyzing gender, sexuality and health issues in the context to promote health and women welfare.

 

Secondly, the WRI staff has built networking with the several persons. WRI staff has built the networking with Mahidol University and also the Consortium as the organizer of the workshop and the conference. The Southeast Asian Consortium on Gender, Sexuality and Health has pooled country-based resources and expertise in developing a regional training program. This annual course, rotating among participation Southeast Asia institution caters to strategically places individuals working in the field of health, offering them new perspectives and methodologies on gender and sexuality that can enhance the quality of their work.

 

By participating in these course, WRI staff will seek the opportunity to get acquaintance with other women organizations in Southeast Asia and China and also discuss with other women activists and feminist researchers to share and exchange ideas and knowledge on their works under the theme of gender, sexuality and reproductive health. Through this networking, WRI intends to build linkages that can produce better strategies on how to increase women’s ability to create access to resources especially in dealing with local authorities to demand their participation.

 

The other networking has built by WRI staff with the several participant from different organizations in Southeast Asia and China : Reproductive Health Association of Cambodia (RHAC); UNFPA Myanmar; Royal University of Phonm Penh, Research and Education Center in Sexual Health, Harbin Medical University, China; Institution of Populating Program Management, China; Yayasan Mitra Kesehatan & Kemanusiaan (YMKK), Indonesia; Care Indonesia, Ministry of Health Hygiene and Prevention Departement Mother and Child Health Division, Lao PDR; Burner Institute, Loa PDR; Muslim Uplitment Foundation in Tawi-Tawi, Philippines, AIDS Network Development Foundation, Thailand; Non-Communicable Diseases Information Center Thailand; An Giang Provincial Reproductive Health Care Center Vietnam; Hanoi School of Public Health Vietnam, Tu Du Hospital Vietnam; Community Health Development Organization, Vietnam; Beijing Gender Health Education Institute. These participant from different organizations has given some experiences in many issues related to the focus of that organizations. WRI staff gets some experiences in issues of reproductive health, the women rights in reproductive health, the services of reproductive health, women crisis center, the advocacy and the services of women migrant workers. All of those achievements may give benefits for the organization. The increasing knowledge and capacity of WRI staff on gender, sexuality and health may increase the quality in organizing research and advocacy activities. ***