Most articles on “women & politics†focus on national level. Along with the more significant local level in political decentralisation and combination of administrative and sectoral decentralisation, attention to women participation in local politics is growing. Many activists and policy makers concluded that the regional governments are the strategic regions for the struggle on this interest.
This was said by Dewi Haryani, Ph.D., in a monthly seminar at the Center for Rural and Regional Development Studies, UGM, Tuesday evening (4/2). In a seminar with the theme “Situation of Children and Women in Decentralisation Eraâ€, the researcher from the Center for Population and Policy Studies said that women interest and participation in local politics often reflected the belief that it is easier for women to participate in local politics.
In this civil society era, Dewi said that the local governments have the responsibilities to provide public services that are women's main attention. Such public services include, among others, health, water, child care centers, transportation, and society infrastructure. “The women participation, however, in local politics is unclear because the success is often followed by the unsuccessful ones,†Dewi explained.
Dewi added that since 1980 women enthusiasm in decentralisation has not diminished despite the understanding about what should be reached has changed. The huge participation interest in decentralisation in many countries has made them focus on this gender issue. “Decentralisation is often seen as a development strategy,†she explained.