Summary of publication

MEDA, a Canadian economic development organization, was commissioned to conduct a study on The Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Program (MAMPU 2012-2020), and its Thematic Area 2: improving conditions of employment and removing workplace discrimination.

MAMPU supports networks and inclusive coalitions of women's and gender-interested organizations (the partners and their sub-partners), as well as government officials, to influence policies, regulations and services to improve the access of poor women in Indonesia to critical services and programs. MAMPU provides grants and technical assistance to partners working in five Thematic Areas (MAMPU Strategic Plan 2017-2020):

1. Improving access to government of Indonesia's social protection programs;
2. Improving conditions of employment and removing workplace discrimination;
3. Improving conditions for women's overseas labour migration;
4. Improving women's health and nutritional status; and
5. Reducing violence against women

From 2012 until 2017, under the leadership of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and working through four civil society organization (CSO) partners utilizing a direct implementation approach, Thematic Area 2 focused primarily on homeworkers in four regions of Indonesia: Jakarta, Medan, Malang and Yogyakarta. The ILO (2015) defines homeworkers as: "dependent, subcontracted workers who work directly or indirectly for employers or their intermediaries, usually on a piece rate basis – also known as piece rate workers, outworkers or workers in the putting-out system." In Indonesia, the ILO identified homeworkers as an important sector of the labour force to focus on due to: the increased incidence of homework; the prevalence of women in the sector; low awareness among homeworkers of their rights under the ILO Convention on Workers' Rights; and the existence of heightened levels of vulnerability and exploitation in this precarious line of work.

As MAMPU moves into the second half of its programming in this phase, spanning from 2018 to 2020, it is considering if it should modify or phase out the current portfolio of work with homeworkers, and/or pursue new strategies to meet MAMPU's ultimate programming objectives. To that end, MEDA was commissioned to complete this research study, guided by the following key questions:

1. To what extent is MAMPU's portfolio of work in Thematic Area 2 currently positioned to improve the access of women homeworkers to essential government services and programs by 2020?
2. To what extent is MAMPU's current strategic focus in Thematic Area 2 sufficient to improve workplace conditions and reduce workplace discrimination?
3. Considering Questions 1 and 2, what actions should MAMPU take?

The study methodology employed by MEDA involved a qualitative review of secondary sources and field research which took place from January 22 – February 5th, 2018. MEDA elicited information from a variety of MAMPU staff and program stakeholders – CSO partners, government, private sector, and community members – utilizing interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs), and participatory analysis.

Full publication

• Report: Findings and recommendations for MAMPU Thematic Area 2 [PDF 1.04 MB]
• Report: Findings and recommendations for MAMPU Thematic Area 2 [Word 3.93 MB]