Last November, Kopernik together with MAMPU held a “Sustainability Pathways” dissemination event to share findings from a joint initiative to support organizations focused on women’s rights & empowerment across Indonesia. 24 people attended the event, representing 11 MAMPU partner organizations from all over Indonesia.
Over the past eight months, Kopernik has been conducting experiments together with four of MAMPU’s partners to find innovative ways of improving their capacity and increasing the sustainability of their programs. These organizations include the Trade Union Rights Centre (TURC), Bina Keterampilan Pedesaan Indonesia (BITRA Indonesia), Yayasan Annisa Swasti (Yasanti), and Bursa Pengetahuan Kawasan Timur Indonesia (BaKTI). Kopernik worked with each organisation to figure out ways in which they could build the financial independence of their organization as well as the programs they implement for their beneficiaries, so that the important services they provide are able to continue regardless of their external funding status in the future.
Since each of the MAMPU partners have different programs, tailored interventions were necessary to meet their needs. With TURC and BITRA, we experimented with solutions to directly support their beneficiaries — rattan craftswomen and homeworkers producing dishwashing soap respectively — so they could achieve better sales through market channel exploration. Building on the lessons learned with TURC and BITRA, Kopernik launched the Market Access Toolkit, a guidebook for micro and small businesses to expand market access through online and warung sales, which will also be useful for other organizations looking to improve their capacity in supporting micro and small businesses.
Kopernik worked with TURC and BITRA to experiment with solutions that directly support beneficiaries.
(Photo credit: Kevin Prathama/Kopernik)
With Yasanti and BaKTI, Kopernik explored partnerships with different stakeholders to build sustainability for their programs beyond the support they currently receive from MAMPU. Yasanti sought out partnerships with various institutions to support Yasanti’s programs in Yogyakarta, which support women porters in markets as well as home workers. BaKTI explored ways in which they could offer a “Development Study Tour” program to companies or travel agents. The program combines tourism with educational visits to community “smart practices” in Eastern Indonesia. After many meetings and negotiations, these partnerships have now opened up new avenues for funding which can support the organisations’ sustainability. Both Yasanti and BaKTI are excited to discover new horizons for potential partnerships in the future.
With Yasanti, Kopernik explored new partnerships for a program to support women porters in Yogyakarta. (Photo credit: Kevin Prathama/Kopernik)
As we reflect on this project, we are proud to have witnessed the change within the organizations and to have discovered new insights together. We realize that these insights could be beneficial for other organizations and businesses, and we are keen to share more from this experience.
Watch this space for more insights on our work with MAMPU!
