Local food issues continue to be championed to support the independence of the development system at the village level in particular. This is strengthened by mainstreaming the need for gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI) in programmes run with the community. In response to this, SHEEP Indonesia Foundation internally conducted capacity building for staff, especially the material for reviewing and proposing important issues in the Village Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJM). The selection of capacity building material focused on mainstreaming GEDSI, which is an element of marginalised communities as YSI's mandate, is based on the fact that the process of preparing RPJMdes contains the principle of involving elements of the village community, considering the objective conditions of the village and connecting with the priorities of district / city programs and activities. In the resulting document, the village government can monitor and measure performance targets, results and impacts of development programmes clearly. The RPJMdes also serves as a public control tool for the village government in carrying out its functions and positions in a transparent and accountable manner.
The activity was conducted on 20 February 2023, facilitated by Suparlan and assisted by Masturido, YSI staff who have experience in RPJMDes review practice. The activity, which was attended by 17 internal staff, began with an understanding and important points that need to be criticised regarding what RPJMDes is, including its principles. Based on the general principles, local food issues and GEDSI measures were mainstreamed in the village RPJM. This presentation and understanding was interspersed with deeper discussions about the problems found in the villages assisted so far.
The second session was followed by sharing and matrix filling to identify existing RPJMDes in the villages and then present them for joint critique. In the presentation, other staff will criticise and provide input so that the mainstreaming of local food, GEDSI and various issues of community needs are accommodated. It was found that districts and villages understand that local food issues and the involvement of all elements are important, but the policy reality is that there are still food "imports" from other regions. The agreement, understanding of this issue included in the RPJMDes still requires a real process of how to formulate, budget and then implement. In addition to review and preparation, there needs to be an agreement on strategies directed at guarding and measuring this is well implemented. For this reason, debriefing or capacity building does not stop at this one activity, but requires a series including how the ability to analyse and criticise policies is repeated by staff.
This activity is included in planning in HR capacity building to encourage staff to have references, discourse in terms of theory, integrating issues and mainstreaming then practice so that there is a clear follow-up. "This media is a space for dialogue and learning related to RPJMDes, staff are expected to be able to gain and provide concrete knowledge to other staff and also projects so that in every policy formulation, dialogue with stakeholders, including all issues both local food and also inclusiveness are carried and used by staff”.
