The Indonesian Family Planning Association (PKBI) is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that pioneered the Family Planning movement in Indonesia. On Wednesday (03/21/2018) at the Infest Yogyakarta office, PKBI Yogyakarta (DIY) together with Infest discussed plans to build a joint study room or joint laboratory, made especially for education on village issues and reproductive health.

The discussions about the plan to build a joint study room have been held by Infest Yogyakarta and PKBI DIY since the end of 2017, however, this third meeting was significantly different as it involved the Chairman of PKBI Branches in Bantul, Gunung Kidul, Sleman, Kulon Progo, and Yogyakarta City . This is the third meeting held between Infest Yogyakarta and PKBI DIY Pusat. Their presence has also enriched the information discussed about learning in each individual region

Based on knowledge in the villages accompanied by PKBI, PKBI in general is not only focused on reproductive health issues, but also work with village issues. Such as the experiences relayed by Eko Priyanto, Chairman of the PKBI Branch in Kulon Progo, who is currently involved in the mentoring process of the medium term village development planning (RPJMDesa), as well as the formulation of several Village Regulations (Perdes) in a village in the  Kulon Progo Regency. PKBI also previously conducted observations in 20 villages in the Kulon Progo District, at the beginning of the social preparation period of the Kespro program.

“Now the issue of organisation is becoming for important for villages, including the issues of village budgets and village development planning,” said Eko.

Although the main focus is on the issue of reproductive health, during its development each branch manager hold a diverse strategy. While in Kulon Progo assistance on village issues has begun, in Gunung Kidul there is a Women’s Advocacy Forum (FAP), Sleman are working on the issue of Disaster Response Villages (Desantana), Bantul are working related to budget advocacy, and in Yogyakarta programs are conducted related to youth organisation, mentoring for marginal groups, policy advocacy, and a number of campaigns on the importance of reproductive health.

Infest Yogyakarta have responded well to the initiation to build a joint study room in a “shared laboratory”. According to M. Khayat, Infest Yogyakarta Program Manager, through the initiation of a “joint laboratory”, the two institutions will be able to learn from each other according to their own experience and capacity.