"In Jakarta, a Women's Movement Leads the Fight Against Water Privatization," 02 August 2018

...[A] movement led by women is fighting against the privatization of water to ensure that affordable access to water remains a right and doesn’t become the privilege a few...Peoples Dispatch spoke to Dinda Nuur Anisaa Yura from Solidaritas Perempuan (Women’s Solidarity for Human Rights) about the movement against water privatization.

Peoples Dispatch: Can you tell about your organization and its work?

Dinda Nuur Anisaa Yura: Solidaritas Perempuan is a feminist organization which works with more than 5,700 women in the grassroots... 

PD: Can you throw some light on the privatization of water services in Indonesia and the movement built against it?

Before 1997, the water resources were managed by our government, but in 1997, they were given to two multinational corporations called Palyja [a French water company Suez-backed PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya] and Aetra [backed by British water company Thames Water]. Since then, the citizens, especially the poor, have continuously experienced water-related crises...

...We are trying to solve the problem, first, by having collective discussions and then starting to work with larger movements...We had a citizen lawsuit that helped us sue our government for violating citizens’ rights... 

PD: How did the campaign against privatization of water start and what were the challenges?

DNAY: ...We had a strong campaign because of the awareness of those who were directly affected in this case. The first thing that we did was the strengthening of critical awareness among women. After they realized the situation, women were were very enthusiastic to fight for their rights...