Our Top 5 Highlights from the Indonesia Mentorship Programme

Turning technical challenges into opportunities for greater reach into the field

The greatest challenge in reaching our mentees during Covid was access to stable internet connections and IT equipment.

JWB’s Indonesia team overcame this by providing laptop computers and printers for those who needed them. The provision of IT equipment also means that future casework can be undertaken remotely by the mentees. This has been welcomed by our local partners. Delivering this programme online also allowed us to reach a wider geographical area, including Lampung in South Sumatra and Java – homes to a large number of migrant workers.

Partnering with frontliners serving different local communities

JWB’s partnered frontliners not only covered a broad geographical area but also people from all walks of life. Our partners include a migrant workers union and our long-term partner (SBMI), advocating rights and justice on behalf of poor and marginalised women (KPI), a grassroots women’s organization (SERUNI) and an organization for Muslim women (FATAYAT). These frontline organisations have great penetration into their communities, addressing widespread issues across society, including gender inequality, gender-based violence, AIDS awareness and inter-religious tolerance. The diversity of these partner organisations, their different focuses and target audiences means that knowledge on migrant workers’ rights can reach more people across different communities.

Mentees with different experiences and backgrounds, sharing the same goal

A total of 13 mentees took part in the programme, representing community organisations across Lampung and Java. These eleven women and two men included eight former migrant workers, with the rest coming from communities where migration is common. Eight of these mentees were also experienced caseworkers while the other six were just beginning their casework journeys.

Despite the diversity of the participants they had all witnessed how vulnerable migrant workers could be, and how they struggled in fighting for their own justice. The mentees shared the same goal, to learn more about migrant workers’ rights and cross-border litigation to better support migrant workers in their communities.

A comprehensive programme for everyone

JWB’s Indonesia team was challenged to tailor a curriculum for this year-long mentorship programme so all the participants – with their different experiences and backgrounds – could have a meaningful journey. The team created a wide-ranging intensive online course providing a comprehensive view of cross-border litigation; migrant worker rights in Hong Kong and Singapore, and viable claims; safe migration and the role of government institutions; and legal remedies in Indonesia. Industry experts, representatives from international NGOs and local government authorities came to speak on these topics.

The programme also gave the mentees a chance to share their knowledge with members of their own organizations; practice cross-border casework skills such as conducting interviews, strategizing cases, networking, public speaking and challenged to be more gender sensitive during communications. They also attended monthly coaching sessions for individual support. Each mentee also led four village discussions in order to share their learnings among nearby villages while also building their public speaking skills.

Sustainable knowledge transfer within communities and beyond

Together, the programme had a large ripple effect. Mentees undertook an astonishing 94 case consultations, shared their knowledge with 377 colleagues at their own organization, and reached a total of 865 participants during village discussions.

Finally, mentees have already begun applying many of the lessons learned in the programme to work in their own organizations. For example, our mentee Nur Khosiah is already integrating the psychological first aid protocol she learned into her organization’s standard operating procedures.

By Jonathan White, PR Volunteer @ JWB

The PowerUp Campaign features how JWB scales up its impact through building capacity with our allies. Our partners, including mentors, mentees, funders and frontline organization leaders, came together to share their experiences in our capacity building programs. We also look ahead to how we continue to scale up our impact to ensure that access to justice is as mobile as migrant workers.