Indonesian rights groups protest against dialogue for gender equality over alleged failure to address issues in North Sumatra.
Indigenous and women’s rights groups in Indonesia are protesting against the G20’s headline event for gender equality over the alleged exclusion of local voices and failure to address key women’s issues in North Sumatra.
Activists gathered at the site of the W20 Summit in Lake Toba, North Sumatra on Wednesday to call attention to deforestation and other issues they say have been neglected by the event taking place from 19-21 July.
“I think the W20 narrative is ironic when their theme is ‘recover together’ equally, but they didn’t even include any agenda related to the challenges of the women of Lake Toba, especially regarding land grabbing and customary forests,” Sekar Banjaran Aji, a campaigner for Greenpeace Indonesia, told Al Jazeera.
“Toba women are not involved in the talks in an inclusive manner, so how can they recover together equally? The forum focused on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), while women are dying trying to defend their customary land, something which is apparently not considered a problem for the W20.”
The W20, which stands for Women 20, is the G20’s official dialogue for women’s empowerment and one of several engagement groups under the umbrella of the economic forum. Indonesia currently holds the annual presidency of the G20, which is made up of 19 countries and the European Union.
The summit, which bills itself as a forum for tackling gender discrimination and encouraging “inclusive economic growth”, is due to deliver a communique to Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the current G20 chair, after its conclusion.
Hadriani Uli Silalahi, chair of W20 Indonesia, said the forum will discuss “priority issues” including gender discrimination and female-owned small businesses.
“In addition, there are also discussions on issues related to increasing access of women with disabilities and rural women in the fields of education, technology, finance, and health,” Uli Silalahi told Al Jazeera. “All of them will be packaged in a series of policy dialogues and conferences.”
Some rights groups, however, have branded the forum exclusionary due to a lack of Indigenous voices or focus on issues affecting women around Lake Toba.
“We are very disappointed by the W20 event at Lake Toba not involving local women when they were discussing sessions which are meant to be focused on how women can access the economy,” Rocky Pasaribu, the head of the local Community Initiative Development Study Group (KSPPM), told Al Jazeera.