Powering Up Women and Youth in Lombok and Makassar
RDI had the opportunity to conduct baseline studies for two distinct Oxfam Indonesia programs: "Power Up - Women Shaping Their Future" on Lombok Island and "Mapping & Assessment - Empower Youth for Work (EYW)" in South Sulawesi. These two studies were carried out at different times and with separate teams, with Dr. Ayu Krishna leading the Lombok study and Dr. Akino Tahir leading the South Sulawesi study.
The "Power Up" program's primary objective is to empower women on Lombok Island by improving health services and promoting the use of information and communication technology (ICT). During the data collection process, RDI conducted interviews, gathered questionnaires from various community and government stakeholders, and facilitated focused group discussions. These activities aimed to gain a deeper understanding of the community's characteristics and its reception of health services, ICT usage, as well as women's involvement in regional development and planning processes. RDI collaborated closely with Oxfam Indonesia's local partner for this study.
On the other hand, the "Empower Youth" program is designed to assist young people, particularly young women, in accessing sustainable employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. The mapping and assessment activities aimed to evaluate, collect, analyze, and document detailed information about the project locations' context, the current status of youth, youth groups, their communities, and the existing support systems that could enable them to benefit from project interventions. While the baseline study for "Power Up" is nearing completion, the "Empower Youth" program's research is still ongoing.
Through these studies, the research teams discovered that on Lombok Island, people are generally open to using ICT for accessing health information. However, this openness does not necessarily extend to using ICT in development and planning processes. Women on Lombok Island appear to be more inclined toward modern health services.
