“I just want to help out my fellow villagers, ” said the 47-year-old health worker as she rushed to attend a workshop for the Alert Village programme, organized by UNDP and the provincial health office. “Most of the (health) problems here are related to maternal and child health issues such as nutritional problems, malaria, and environmental hygiene,” Tobuhu said. “We have been inspecting all households from sunrise to sunset for four days now.

Kendal, Central Java – Salis is eight months pregnant with her first child, and has been diagnosed with a potentially high-risk pregnancy, in part because of swelling in one of her feet. She is one of dozens of expectant mothers who have taken advantage of health services provided by Cepiring Community Health Center in Kendal, Central Java, where maternal mortality is among the highest in the country.

Ogenetan village, Papua, Indonesia – The scent of the Celebes pepper plant hits you before you even reach Ogenetan in the heart of Papua’s Boven Digoel district. Called sereh merah, the plant is used by communities across Papua to drive away evil spirits.

Three years ago, Indonesian housewife Ibu Odah had little knowledge of legal affairs. Now, the mother of two is at the forefront of a legal fight against domestic violence in the remote island of Ternate, in the North Moluccas province of Indonesia. With the knowledge and expertise that she has acquired, Ibu Odah is now able to provide free legal advice to victims of domestic violence in Tobololo village. As a trained paralegal, Ibu Odah has so far handled three cases of domestic violence and succeeded in bringing them to the local judicial court.

Between 2009 and 2014, the local parliament (DRPD) in Bangka Belitung only initiated two local laws. The 2013 Indonesia Democracy Index (IDI) showed a very poor score for the role of the DRPD in Bangka Belitung. The DRPD scored zero in the bylaw indicator, meaning that not a single local law was initiated by the DRPD during that year.

FAKFAK, West Papua – Nestled among fragrant nutmeg trees and steps away from a white sandy beach in West Papua, a hilltop village has found new ways of making the most out of its prized spices.

Among other things, the project is supporting the development of a provincial Human Development Report, as well as training in pro-poor planning and budgeting (P3BM) for provincial government authorities. In other provinces where the P3BM methodology has been adopted, a 17-20% average real increase in local government budgetary allocations to the poor has been witnessed.

OGENETAN VILLAGE, Iniyandit subdistrict, Boven Digoel regency, Papua – Yulia Bayup, 24, is a happy woman. She is the proud owner of two fishponds, having been provided with IDR 2 million (US$150) in credit as a result of a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project in Boven Digoel.

DABE VILLAGE, Sarmi, Papua province – A long stretch of black sandy beach on the fringe of Dabe village lies empty. It is 10 a.m. on a Tuesday – a workday – but nobody is out fishing in the nearby waters.

Women parliamentarian candidates eye historic record As vote counting gets underway in the world’s third largest democracy, little-known Indonesian businesswoman Freeda Mustikasari can almost taste history.