Yogyakarta, October 22nd 2024─The Social Inclusion and Democratic Citizenship Study Team of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences of UGM held a dissemination event entitled “Reading Social Inclusion from the Regions”. The event, which was held in a hybrid manner on Tuesday (22/10), was attended by various communities and groups who have great attention to issues of social inclusion.
The event discussed two researches that have been conducted since 2020. One of the two research discussed in this event took the title “Darma, Not Derma: Inclusion as a Citizenship Project” which analyzes the GEDSI situation in six cities/districts, namely Banda Aceh and Bireuen (Aceh), Makassar and Maros (South Sulawesi), also Bantul and Yogyakarta (D.I. Yogyakarta).
Wawan Mas’udi, S.IP., M.P.A., Ph.D., the Dean of Faculty of Social and Political Sciences UGM who is also involved in the research team, said that in this research, his team tried to map the exclusion that occurred. The findings of this research show that exclusion is caused by socio-political context, community mindset , social structure, and geographical aspects. Therefore, it is important for him to create a database and mapping of exclusion that occurs at least in every province in Indonesia. “With such a strong database, the policy towards inclusive citizenship will be smoother and stronger,” he said.
From the findings of this research, Wawan said that exclusion occurs like a repetitive cycle that begins with misrecognition or lack of recognition of the status of vulnerable groups as whole human beings and equal citizens. Misrecognition then leads to vulnerable groups not having equal access to basic services and not being able to participate in decision-making processes. This means that misrecognition leads to maldistribution and misrepresentation.
He added that exclusion also occurs because the logic of development is still hegemonic by the logic of the majority even though the issue of participation continues to be echoed. According to him, although there have been empowerment efforts, until now there has been no direct advocacy to groups that unconsciously perpetuate the exclusion that occurs. “The mindset of certain groups such as politicians is very strong regarding voters, if I am too loud I can not get votes, no matter what party the behavior is the same, very pragmatic so there needs to be literacy towards political parties,” he said. With direct advocacy and literacy, he believes the struggle for inclusion based on charity can turn into a shared duty as fellow citizens.
In line with Wawan, Qurrota A’yun, S. Si., MPH, the Ministry of the National Development Planning (Bappenas) expressed the importance of data as a basis for policy formulation. She stated that the government still does not have in-depth and qualified qualitative data to formulate more appropriate policies. “BPS has quite a lot of quantitative data, but there is still little qualitative data that is in-depth,” she said.
Dr. Tri Hastuti Nur Rochimah, M.Si. as part of PP Aisyiyah underlined the influence of basic services and the mindset of the community in creating social inclusion. She shared one of her experiences while working on the issue of children with special needs. The problem of limited access to facilities and sustainable assistance is exacerbated by the exclusive stigma of society. “Many schools still don’t want to be inclusive because there are still many people who are afraid of getting infected, this is a big problem that we have to break,” she explained.