Sarekat Hijau Indonesia: Indonesian Green Political Movement and Strengthening Indonesian Women’s Political Leadership

By: Ade Indriani Zuchri
(Chairman of Sarekat Hijau Indonesia)

Sarekat Hijau Indonesia was established in Jakarta on July 6, 2007, this year Sarekat Hijau Indonesia is 13 years old with membership in 10 Provinces from the Village to the Provincial level. As a Green Political Organization in Indonesia, strengthening political leadership for members is a very strategic choice, especially strengthening the political leadership of SHI’s women members.

I would like to share how the founders of Sarekat HIjau Indonesia built SHI before me, and in my leadership era. When it was founded in 2007, SHI membership was only in 3 Provinces in Indonesia until 2015. In 2015, when I joined as Secretary General of SHI One of my tasks is to accelerate the expansion of SHI membership as a complement to the SHI congress, because since 2015 until now the membership of the Indonesian Green Sarekat has increased by 7 Provinces in Indonesia.

The next question, as a woman, is what causes me to be willing to carry out the mandate as Secretary General of SHI and finally to be elected as the Chairperson of the Indonesian Green Sarekat from 2017 to 2022.

In patriarchal culture in Indonesia, being a woman or position as a woman has been very difficult. Women in Indonesia are trapped in religious and cultural norms that cannot be flexible and are free to express their political choices such as women’s political freedom in Europe, America and several other countries such as Australia and New Zealand, so that obstacles and problems of women in practical politics are very limited. Another thing that hinders other women’s political problems is the political space for women in Indonesia to become men’s spaces, with the stereotype of women unable to perform public political tasks, women are considered weak entities, which eventually become a subordinate of male political leadership. The country’s political decisions are ultimately influenced by male political leadership, much of the space for political participation in Indonesia is ultimately dominated by men, therefore as the Leader of the Indonesian Green Political Organization, Sarekat Hijau Indonesia has implemented practices to strengthen political leadership women by continuing to increase their capacity. How to encourage women in Indonesia to be actively involved in taking on strategic and political positions in Indonesia.

I believe, as the only Green Women’s Party Leader in Asia Pacific, work to strengthen women’s political leadership in Indonesia is not easy, but also not difficult, as long as there is seriousness and sisterhood support from global green party comrades. I would not have been able to reach this position without the support of all members of Sarekat Hijau Indonesia and also from all of the Green World party friends.

Currently Sarekat Hijau Indonesia is strengthening the leadership of women members by conducting leadership education, and also by increasing the number of women memberships in Sarekat Hijau Indonesia, because by increasing the number of membership and increasing the educational capacity for female members, we can seize the future political leadership in Indonesia. (MY)