Mainstreaming gender role in oil palm villages in achieving SDGs

The expansion of oil palm development in Indonesia changes the role of women in livelihood security, including their role as members of civil society. Some issues that continued to arise are related to the participation of women in oil palm and the overall need for more women in SDGs achievement. Significantly, palm oils play a significant role in achieving these SDGs, though the exact contribution that palm oils have to the SDGs remains unclear. Gender disparities in the labor market are mainly attributable to deeply entrenched stereotypes that restrain women from caregiving and men from breadwinning. Understanding the need to address the social norm, this paper aims to benchmark (i) the inclusivity of the role of women and asset ownership, (ii) achievement in some SDGs targets, and (iii) women’s participation in development Issues. The analysis is based on literature studies and field information from 2 villages in West Kalimantan. The study results show that the mixture of conventional and progressive values among women is quite significant. It was found that equal opportunity between men and women is in place within both villages, especially in terms of education, wages, and job distribution, even though some small numbers of women still face inequality to some degree. Unfortunately, women’s involvement in various crucial platforms is still considerably low, such as conflict management and resolution in more extensive settings. Women have more decision-making power in the household than in workplaces or village governance. Regarding child labor, human rights violations, and environmental damages, the vast majority said those things never happened.


Introduction
The expansion of oil palm development in Indonesia changes the role of women in livelihood security, including their role as members of civil society.Some issues that continue to arise are related to the participation of women in oil palm and the overall need for more women in SDGs achievement.Significantly palm oils play a significant role in achieving these SDGs, though the exact contribution that palm oils have to the SDGs remains unclear.Some literature already recognizes the role of women in the oil palm sector.Women were involved in agronomic activities, including planting, crop maintenance, fertilizing, and weeding.
Furthermore, women perform domestic roles such as cooking, caregiving, and handling.However, some daily activities are often invisible and unrecognized.Women's contributions to the palm oil industry as well as the burdens they bear from unsustainability are not matched by an equal share of resources or influence on how the sector is operated [1]; [2]; [3]; [4]Indonesia is the biggest producer and exporter of Palm oil in the world.The sector deserves special attention, as it is economically robust and affects the lives and incomes of millions of smallholder farmers and workers, including women.Several

Materials
The study used the primary data gathered through interviews using a facilitated questionnaire (digital and written) by the field officer of Yayasan Solidaridad Network Indonesia (YSNI).Data and information related to palm oil's contribution to SDGs and women's role in the Palm oil industry were taken from secondary data from the National Bureau of Statistics, Focus Group discussions, and workshops with government, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), and Business stakeholders.

Methods
The methodology for the assessment is using a facilitated questionnaire (digital and written) consisting of questions detailing gender-based village-related aspects, including (i) welfare aspects such as access to education, land rights, assets ownership, accessibility to productive assets, household-related issues and media access ; (ii) productivity aspects such as economy, agriculture, workplace decency, and source of income; and (iii) empowerment aspects such as decision making on household expenditure, ownership, political empowerment, governance, leadership, conflict management, environmental issue, child labor, human rights issues.Respondents were accidentally sampled among 67 women aged between 20 to 65 years of age and various educational and socio-economic cultural backgrounds.The selected locations for this study have one significant difference Tapang Semadak (TS) is a village led by a female leader, and Sepulut (S) is a village led by a male leader.One of the goals is to find out whether there are significant differences that will be helpful for the post-assessment.

Limitations
The study has some limitations, including the number of respondents, data gap, data validity, rapid changes in technology, the complexity of the supply chain, reliability of the data completeness, high data uncertainty, geographical correlations, and data bias.There is still a long way to go, but this will be the initial first stage of a broader assessment that will be carried out in more extensive areas soon.

Results and Discussions
Mainstreaming gender roles in the oil palm industry in this study will explore: i) the inclusivity of the role of women and asset ownership, ii) achievement in some SDGs targets and Roles of Women, and iii) women's participation in development issues.

3.1.Inclusivity the Role of Women and Asset Ownership
Inclusivity is an imperative measure to guarantee that equality and equity are in place.Working in a socalled patriarchal industry such as agriculture, especially with those involved in the oil palm plantation sector, made it even more crucial for Indonesia to set a clear base in terms of gender inclusivity.Women are included in government projects and programs before the mandatory inclusivity is officially announced.While we are consciously trying to include women at all levels of activities and across program areas, how does the program affect them?Do they feel that they obtained or gained something from it, or was it just a mere participation?In this study, about 22 variables were measured for inclusivity of the role of women and asset ownership, among others.More could be classified as (i) active awareness of the role of women, (ii) the role of women and their benefit from the customary forest; (iii) the ownership in several estates, including fruit and rice estates.(i) Active awareness of role of women Women of Tapang Semadak seemed to be more progressive in assessing the situation of their locality, Women of Tapang Semadak were more progressive in assessing the situation of their locality.However, it was surprising that only 30% of them thought that women have become more active and dominant through the years, while 50% of women in Sepulut village selected that option.Fortunately, women seem aware that their roles have become equal to men as the village develops (see Figure 1 Regarding natural resources management, women in both villages have a similar percentage as collectors.Women primarily act as collectors of what the surrounding produces (i.e., the forest).They collect any natural resources and products as instructed by others.Only less than 10% of women act as leaders.The second highest role is as gatherer and manager of the products, where people drop the products to them to be managed further.(Figure 1  (ii) The role of women and their benefit from customary forest Both villages have a community/customary forest.Tapang Semadak Forest for Tapang Semadak Village, and Seringin Forest for Sepulut Village.The community/customary forests serve as a natural source for the surrounding communities to benefit.Village inhabitants may utilize whatever the forests produce but within a reasonable quantity.The highest percentage for both community/customary forests is being utilized for the benefit of the community (Figure 1 point 1.4).This entails food plant sourcing and other purposes, such as getting raw handicraft materials.Utilizing the forest produce to fulfill family staple needs come after utilization to increase household income (Figure 1 point 1.5).Women of Tapang Semadak utilize more for income generating while women of Sepulut utilize more for their family staple needs.
Fruit estate is one of the types of estate that is very common in West Kalimantan.People also plant fruit trees such as durian and bananas, besides oil palm and rubber.Based on the findings, the ownership pattern for fruit estates in both villages is very similar; approximately 90% belongs to the family (Figure 1 point 1.6).Land utilization for fruit estates predominantly covers family needs according to 52.5% of women in Tapang Semadak Village and 73.1% of women in Sepulut Village (Figure 1 point 1.7).The second priority for both villages is to generate income to increase household income.Most women who owned fruit estates also obtained assistance from male family members or their husbands to maintain and treat the land (Figure 1   Productive estates are all kinds of estate, apart from commodity crop estates, that provide yields for the owners.Results show that 90% of women in Tapang Semadak and 69.2% in Sepulut agreed that women mainly benefit from the harvest, where they sell the harvest to obtain extra household income.They obtain extra additional income from profit sharing with the estate's manager. (iii) The ownership in several estates including fruit and rice estates.
In terms of ownership, it is the same scenario where the majority is family-owned estates.However, it is somewhat relieving to learn that women hold the second-highest ownership status at 32.5% in Tapang Semadak and 26.9% in Sepulut.Only 20% of women in Tapang Semadak and 19.2% in Sepulut claimed that the ownership of their productive estates belonged to their husbands or other family members.
Just like the other types of estate, even though there are women-owned estates available, what must also be considered is the size and the numbers of the land.In Tapang Semadak, women-owned productive estate is less than five estates, according to 65% of the women; the other 7.5% mentioned that the quantity is between 5 to 10 estates.In Sepulut, 42.3% of women claimed that women-owned productive estates are less than 5, and 7.7% claimed it is between 5 to 10 estates (Figure 1 point 1.13 and 1.14).
Either way, the number that claims a higher quantity is lower in both villages compared to those who claim otherwise.size wise, 40% of the women in Tapang Semadak claimed that it is less than 1 Ha, while the other 27.5% claimed the size is ranging between 1 to 5 Ha.Meanwhile, in Sepulut, 27.5% of the women stated that women-owned estate size is less than 1 Ha, and 26.9% said it is between 1 to 5 Ha.But 50% of women in Sepulut Village claimed that there are no women-owned estates, and in Tapang Semadak, the statement came from 30% of the women (Figure 1 point 1.17) Land ownership capability remains a recurring issue for women in these two villages.The percentage of land acquired through inheritance is very high in both villages, exceeding 50% in Tapang Semadak and reaching above 75% in Sepulut; less than 31% of women purchased the land independently (Figure 1 point 1.19).Collective ownership is also a widespread thing that is found when it comes to asset ownership.This has made women have no option but to sit and wait for their share to be split.Between 40% and 50% of the percentage, women even need permission from their husbands, family members, or the Village Chief to purchase land independently.
Plantation has been mentioned as a patriarchal sector that leaves almost no room for women to lead or develop themselves.This assessment shows that ownership of plantation or commodity estates is no different from other types of land and estate ownership.The percentage of women who do not own plantations is slightly higher than the owner in Tapang Semadak and equal in Sepulut.The difference between the two villages is the size.Women-owned plantation in Tapang Semadak is smaller than in Sepulut.But the number of women owning less than 1Ha plantation in Tapang Semadak is way higher than in Sepulut (Tabel 1 point1.20)Generally, women face various gender-based challenges in land ownership, no matter what type of land it is.It could be fruit estates, productive estates, agricultural-purposed lands, and plantations.The hurdles for women to own land or put their names on the deeds heavily rely on the merci and "kindness" of their husbands or family members who collectively own the land.However, 62.5% of women in Sepulut have plantation ownership, while 48% in Tepang Semadak.
Given the land size in West Kalimantan's villages, having extra land and a garden at home is very common.However, only some can utilize the extra space wisely and meaningfully.Those with additional knowledge will utilize the extra space to grow food plants, herbs, and medicinal plants.West Kalimantan is infamous for its relatively high poverty level.It was mentioned as the poorest province in the whole of Borneo Island.Thus, when women can sustain themselves and their families using extra space at home, it will help them secure food for the family.Even when the yields from commodity and productive estates are low, they can still feed the family using whatever food plants they grow at home.The study confirms 73.1 % of women in Tepang Semadak and 55 % in Sepulut utilized extra space to grow food (Figure 1 point 1.22.)

Achievement in some SDGs target and Roles of Women
The achievement of SDGs targets in this study is limited to SDGs 5, which targets gender equality, and SDGs 8, of decent work and economic growth.Discussion in this part will cover three issues: (i) gender equality; (ii) women's involvement in decision-making, and (iii) Accessibility.(i) Gender Equality Whether in the formal or informal sector, women participate in workplaces and are affected by human resources policies.This assessment also looks at their role in various settings.It is interesting to find that women assess their peers or themselves as having important roles more than crucial, where here is defined as any work or job that can be completed with a small quantity of assistance from women.Less than 40% of the women from both villages feel that women have crucial roles, which means the work will only be done with women's intervention.Most of them play normative and progressive roles combined.While they do house chores and assist in managing the family business at the same time (Figure 2 point 2.1.)But comparing the two villages is mesmerizing because women in Sepulut seem to have a significantly lower percentage of combined roles than those in Tapang Semadak.However, the percentage of split roles, normative and progressive, is deficient in Tapang Semadak (Figure 2 point 2.2).Further assessment is for the village setting.A number of women who participated in this assessment were members of the village apparatus, and to see how the vast majority admitted that the roles within the village setting are predominantly based on individual capacity.Meanwhile, in Sepulut, only a few women pursue careers as civil servants in the village Governance bodies, and the participants seemed to have more diverse opinions.The different findings between the two villages can be assumed that a location with a more impactful female leader tends to have more uniformity in perceiving the roles of their peers.Thus, the result is more solid and straightforward (Figure 2 points 2,3) In the plantation context, quite a high percentage of women are actively involved in maintenance, management, and financial aspects.More than a quarter of them mentioned that they have supporting roles and only do work as instructed by others.For women who work in plantations, over 60% of women from both villages experience no gaps in comparison with men (Figure 2 point 2.5).When women are asked what roles women and girls are given within the societal setting, most of them answered that the roles are normative and sex centric.Women and girls are given light duties that only require a little power, such as administrative and secretarial roles.Some answered that roles given to them are progressive, where their skills, capacity, and capability are accounted for.And a tiny fraction of women claimed they were not given any roles at all (Figure 2   Some answered that roles given to them are progressive, where their skills, capacity, and capability are accounted for.Moreover, a minimal fracture of women claimed they were not given any roles. Roles distribution within the household setting is predominantly based on mutual agreement for both villages (Figure 2 point 2.7).The difference between the two villages is physical ability.Women in Tapang Semadak seem to assign domestic roles based on physical ability compared to women in Sepulut.
Other interesting findings are in the household setting.When women are asked what roles are assigned to girls and boys at home, conservative answers come to the surface.However, women are almost contradicting themselves in this particular area.For instance, in Tapang Semadak, within the household and family settings, boys are usually given medium-level work that requires enough physical strength (26.9%) because boys are deemed to be stronger than girls.They are also given uncomplicated and require low concentration or focus (19.2%) because boys are perceived as more reckless and careless than girls, and mostly field or plantation work or assistance (15.4%) because they said the plantation maintenance needs a lot of extra hands with physical ability.Furthermore, 11.2% said that boys are not obliged to help their parents or family.
Meanwhile, girls are mostly given light jobs/work (23.1%) that requires less physical strength, are uncomplicated, and require no special skills (19.2%).Furthermore, despite the answer that girls are deemed to be more meticulous and focused, only 7.7% of women give their girls more complex duties that require extra concentration and focus because of their young age, and only 3.8% give their girls any assignments that require focus and general skills.Many of the women said that their daughters are still in school, so they are not given extra housework (Figure 2 points 2.9 and 2.10).
Those involved in this study came from very diverse cultural, literacy, education, age, and socioeconomic backgrounds.During the assessment processes, facilitators also had to cater to a small number of participants who had writing, reading, and Indonesian speech difficulties.On the other hand, village apparatuses and women with relatively adequate education and literacy levels were also participating.It is commonly assumed that those holding positions at the village governance bodies and/or higher education and literacy levels will be more eager to learn and build their capacity.But the findings show differently.The peer-to-peer assessment found that disinterest in learning and building capacity in both villages is very high, followed by not getting any benefits from the training or capacity building.A minor fracture of it even said that they do not need to build capacity further (Figure 2

point 2.11). (ii) Involvement in decision-making process
The decision-making processes for women are assessed across various aspects and settings closest to them: household, community, village, and workplaces.Levels of involvement are varied on what setting they are in.Most of the time, women's level of involvement is significant but not dominant.It means women are not always involved in the decision-making processes, but any voices from women (if there are any) are accounted for (Figure 2 point 2.11).
Within the previous three settings, however non-idealistic, women still have a rather significant involvement (to some degree).However, a drastic change appears when the setting is shifted into the policy-making processes within the village setting.The percentage of involvement in both villages is much higher than the opposite.Nevertheless, apart from the uniformity and similarity, the results show that women in Tapang Semadak who are not involved in policy-making processes are significantly lower than Sepulut.As mentioned earlier, Tapang Semadak has a female Village Chief, which has a significant impact.Unfortunately, the percentage of women who do not know whether or not women are involved in the policy-making processes is equally staggering in both villages and exceeds the percentage of involvement.
The reasons for this answer in both locations are varied.Nevertheless, mainly, women are not involved because they are absent during the policy-making processes.Most respondents feel equality in addressing women's and men's votes and aspirations.Many of them have thought that women's representation is important and that women are now more actively involved in the village organizational setting too, especially as members of the Village's Women's Group The village governance bodies also do not have any gender or sex segregations, which means there is a practice of gender equality within both villages setting where women and men are not divided based on their sex or gender unless it involves a lot of power or physical strength (Figure 2 point 2.12;2.13 and 2,14).

(iii) Accessibility
West Kalimantan has had issues with infrastructure for decades.Accessibility (good condition roads and streets, distance to amenities, and others.) is one of the significant problems within the province.Tapang Semadak and Sepulut Villages are in relatively comfortable areas where the main road is in good condition.Nevertheless, there are other challenges in terms of accessibility: distance.It is a relief to see that girls have equal opportunities in education as boys in both villages.It was also found that all children are going to school.Both villages seemingly have a high percentage of girls attending university or college.It is an outstanding achievement that must be maintained or scaled up.The Government of Indonesia has issued a mandatory education phase for children, which is nine years.It means all children in Indonesia must enjoy educational opportunities until middle school.However, in poorer areas such as West Kalimantan, children are facing a set of challenges to accomplish their education (Figure 2 point 2.16).
However progressive the mindset of the women in these two villages, the conservative values about girls' education started to surface when facing challenges such as financial issues that affect their children.Girls are sacrificing more than boys when it comes to education.Even though they have equal access and initial opportunity, when parents must choose, girls again lose to boys.Financial issues are heavily related to the decision to marry off the girls to ease the so-called family's economic burden.Despite the statement, these women were saying how boys and girls are equally deserved to enjoy proper education; it is easier to marry the daughter off before they finish school to lessen the household expenses.Furthermore, surprisingly, even though accessibility is one of the main concerns for West Kalimantan, the percentage of women who answered this is below 10% in both villages.It could be due to the geographical locations of Tapang Semadak and Sepulut.Assessment in different villages and different districts may have drastic differences (Figure 2 point 2.17).
One of the quickest ways to assess the independence and empowerment of women is through the ownership of their assets.Even in larger cities such as Jakarta and Bandung on Java Island, many women still face difficulties getting permission from their spouses to open their bank accounts.It is widespread to see women and girls riding motorbikes alone in rural West Kalimantan.But what about the ownership of the assets itself?
For vehicles and transportation means, many women have their names on the certificate of ownership, but houses are a different story.Half of the women still need their names on the deeds or certificates of ownership for the house where they live.Even though the percentage of women who own houses is not too low, it is still below the ones who do not.The women from both villages answer that the house belongs to their husbands.The second is that family members collectively own the house.
Furthermore, only very few self-purchases the asset when asked how the women who own their houses obtain them.Others were getting it from inheritance or as a gift from their husband, grown-up children, or other family members.Thus, purchasing power for women is relatively low in both villages.During the short discussion, it was found that only women who work or own a business enterprise could procure for themselves independently (Figure 2 points 2.18; 2.19 and 2.20).

Women's Participation in Development Issues
The assessment continued with a discussion on how women participate in development issues.The discussion started with the discussion of : (i) Involvement in leadership, access to market, and household incomes.
Only one-third of the women in both villages admitted there is the involvement of women within the village governance setting, but they still need a significant role.Surprisingly, even for Tapang Semadak, which has a female Village Chief, the women still feel that the role of women involved needs to be more significant.The difference between the two villages is that women in Tapang Semadak seemed to be surer about the information than the ones in Sepulut.Both participants in the two villages did not answer "no roles at all" in this question.This can be positively viewed as women had already gained adequate understanding regarding leadership (Figure 3  Those involved said that women and girls are used to sales and marketing processes.Meanwhile, in Tapang Semadak, 48% of the women feel that women and girls are involved in product marketing.
There were mixed responses to this question, and the percentage is similar between the two locations.However, the percentage of women and girls involved in the sales and marketing processes is double that of those who are not.It is a classic example of how women and girls are automatically deemed more capable of marketing products than men.The problem is whether or not their involvement provides accurate access to the market because if men still control the market, then the involvement reflected here is merely a mirage (Figure 3

point 3.2)
We know that most women play significant roles in the household setting as financial managers.However, this assessment wants to seek a more profound role for women regarding finances.Most women from both villages answered that their role in increasing household income is supportive.It means they are not the primary breadwinner, and women contribute an insignificant amount of extra income to the household.The second highest percentage is the normative role, where women only manage the household income without contributing to the family's income-generating scheme.Women in Tapang Semadak who have no roles at all is a slightly higher percentage than the one in Sepulut.Nevertheless, who determines what sort of income-generating scheme the family should take on board?(Figure 3

point 3.3)
In Sepulut Village, 62.9% of women do not significantly determine household income mechanisms, whereas 25.7% do, and 8.8% selectively do both.Women are primarily involved in the additional household income scheme, according to 64.1% of women.Only 10.3% are in primary income, and 25.4% are in both schemes.
While in Tapang Semadak Village, 42.3% of women do not have a significant role in determining the household income mechanisms, whereas 26.9% do, and 23.1% selectively both.Women are primarily involved in the additional household income scheme, according to 76% of women.Only 4% are in primary income, and 20% are in both schemes.When women do not have a significant role in determining the household income-generating mechanisms, it means that either the husbands or the family decide what kind of mechanisms will be taken or applied.Women may disagree with the decision IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1308/1/01206410 but will not have a say.While those with a significant role usually contribute a certain amount to the scheme, those who are selectively both usually contribute to specific income schemes within the family setting.However, only some and some are optional (Figure 3 point 3.4).(ii) Accessibility to the primary facility Any gender assessments must always include access to basic facilities for women and girls.At least two items must be assessed: health care facility and clean water.Women and girls are uniquely different from men and boys in physiology.Sexual and reproductive health is an essential aspect of women's and girls' lives that needs to be accessible.For instance, the men will cover staple and educational expenses, while the women contribute to the fulfillment of medical and transport expenses.However, medical expenses are not the priority here, so women may or may not contribute to this expense post, but transport is essential, so women must always make efforts to make sure this post is met.
Having accessible maternal and pediatric health care services is imperative.Every village may or may not have a primary health care clinic.However, the question is, does the clinic provide maternal and pediatric health care services?Moreover, if it does, is it women-friendly?The availability of female nurses and doctors in healthcare services will encourage women and girls to be more cautious about their health, especially sexual and reproductive health.Many women and girls are still awkward about being examined by a male doctor when they have sexual and reproductive health issues, including family planning and contraception installment.If a male doctor causes discomfort, women will most likely not return for further check-ups, which can affect their sexual and reproductive health.Given the unique physiology of women's bodies, having access to clean water is also essential because the cleanliness of the water they use to wash themselves will affect the health of their sexual and reproductive organs.In Tapang Semadak, the primary healthcare facility for mothers and children within the village is very accessible, according to 50% of respondents.It means not only the distance is short, but the facility is also adequately equipped.30.8% of others said the primary facility is relatively accessible, which means distant wise it is not too far away.11.9% of the respondents experience adequate access to primary healthcare facilities where the distance is quite far.3.8% have difficult access, and the other 3.8% have challenges in terms of accessibility due to long distances and not having a well-equipped facility.However, in terms of women-friendliness, the response is 100%.88.6% of the facility has reproductive health care services, and only 3.8% do not have it.Thus, 84.6% of women responded that they have no issue accessing healthcare facilities, meaning their spouses allow them to go independently.
In comparison, 7.7% said their spouse allows them, but they must be accompanied.The main challenge for women in accessing healthcare facilities is the family's financial condition, as mentioned by 19.2% of the respondents.The other 19.2% said that distance is the second obstacle for them.15.4% of the women answered transportation as the challenge for them to access the health care facility, and the other 15.4% said that the weather is the issue.80.8% of the women stated that clean water is very accessible.In Sepulut Village, the primary healthcare facility for mothers and children is very accessible, according to 62.5% of respondents.
It means not only the distance is short, but the facility is also adequately equipped.22.5% of others said the primary facility is relatively accessible, which means distance-wise, it is not too far away.10% of the respondents experience adequate access to primary healthcare facilities, where the distance is quite far.2.5% have difficult access, and the other 2.5% have challenges in terms of accessibility due to long distances and not having a well-equipped facility.However, in terms of women-friendliness, the response is 100%.87.5% of the facility has reproductive health care services, and only 2.5% do not.As many as 80% of women responded that they have no issue accessing healthcare facilities, meaning their spouses allow them to go independently.
In comparison, 15% said their spouse allows them, but they must be accompanied.The main challenge for women in accessing healthcare facilities is the family's financial condition, as mentioned by 30% of the respondents.The other 15% said that distance is the second obstacle for them.17.5% of the women answered that transportation was challenging to access the health care facility, and the other 12.5% said the weather was the issue.65% of the women stated that clean water is very accessible.20% 1308 (2024) 012064 IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1308/1/01206411 of the respondents said it is pretty accessible, the other 10% said it is somewhat accessible, and 5% said it is difficult to access clean water (Figure 3 points 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, and 3.8).
The characteristic of soil in West Kalimantan is widely known as high acidity soil and peatland.Thus, the most suitable commodity is oil palm.It is a typical view to see a massive spread of oil palm estates all over the province.Maintenance of the estates is not simple and requires many hands.Where do women fall in this aspect?If there is any involvement, how decent is the work area for them?These questions are crucial because when women are put on a plantation without any decent access to clean water and toilet booth, this can affect their overall health, including sexual and reproductive health aspects.
In Tapang Semadak, when asked about involvement in the commodity plantation, 38.9% of the women said that women are pretty significantly involved.In the scenario where women are involved, the workspace at the plantation for women is adequate, according to 30.8% of them.While in Sepulut, when asked about involvement in the commodity plantation, 13.5% of the women said that women are pretty significantly involved.And if women are involved, the workspace at the plantation for women is adequate according to 5.9% of women, adequate according to 20.8% of them, 2.9% think it is only somewhat adequate, and 14.7% think it is not adequate for women (Figure 3 point 3.9) Women are commonly seen doing work at the plantations, so their involvement in terms of commodity plantation maintenance must be considered.Moreover, the decency of their workplace is essential.However, there is no certainty that women understand the definition of a "decent workplace" that uniquely addresses their needs as women, including safety and security.The discussion about wages and job distribution will always follow when discussing work.Gaps in payroll are commonly found everywhere, and women always suffer from lower wages just because they are women, deemed weaker links, and not as flexible as men.This kind of gender-based bias is necessary to explore within the plantation setting.In Sepulut Village, when asked about wages, 77.5% said there are no gaps between wages for men and women; all are paid equally.However, 12.5% had the experience of getting different amounts of wages, and 10% needed to know for sure.74.4% of the respondents also do not experience differences in benefits between men and women, while 15.4% did and 10.3% did not know.Those who experience differences said that the reason is always the strength of men is valued higher, and men are deemed more trustworthy.The job distribution between men and women within the plantation setting is mostly based on workload, according to 45% of the respondents, and based on difficulty level, according to 42.5% of the women.In Tapang Semadak, 80% said there is also no difference between wages for men and women; all are paid equally.However, 8% had the experience of getting different wages (for instance, men are getting 150,000 per day while women get only 100,000 per day), and 12% need to know for sure.68% of the respondents also do not experience differences in benefits between men and women, while 20% did.Those who experience differences said that the reason is always the strength of men is valued higher.Similar to what happens in Sepulut, the job distribution between men and women in Tapang Semadak is also primarily based on workload, according to 42.3% of the respondents, and based on level of difficulty according to 38.9% of the women (Figure 3 points 3.10 and 3.11).(iii)Development issues This part will discuss at least three development issues, i.e., deforestation, illegal logging, and child labor.The issue of deforestation in general Borneo Island has come to the surface far too many times.Illegal logging activities, oil palm estates, and peat and forest fire are mentioned as the main three culprits.The Government of West Kalimantan had issued a regulation prohibiting any new plantation opening.Existing available land usage is encouraged, and slash-and-burn activities are not allowed.Nevertheless, illegal logging activities are still recorded in some tropical forests of West Kalimantan.Nevertheless, what needs to be understood is that entering the forest is more complex than people may have imagined.Most of the time, the perpetrator is not coming from the closest communities, and outsiders intending to trespass will need inside intelligence and guidance.
Regarding illegal logging activities, 78.4% of the women in Sepulut said women are not involved, but in Tapang Semadak, 92.3% said women are not involved in illegal logging activities.Regarding problem-solving in illegal logging, most women in Sepulut, 10.5%, think that women need more contribution when it comes to resolving illegal logging, which means the issue still can be resolved without women's intervention.23.7% mentioned that the contribution is quite significant.Moreover, interestingly, when asked about what kind of contribution women can offer in resolving illegal logging issues, the answer is to replant the forest, and another batch of respondents said not to get involved.In Tapang Semadak, most women needed to learn how women contributed to resolving the issue (69.6%).13% think that women lack contribution when it comes to resolving illegal logging, which means the issue can still be resolved without women's intervention.Moreover, interestingly, when asked about what kind of contribution women can offer in resolving illegal logging issues, the answer is not to be involved in the processes.
Several prominent social issues cause the world to raise red flags over the palm oil industry in Indonesia, i.e. : child labor, environmental damages, human rights violations, and animal cruelty.For the context of West Kalimantan, animal cruelty is inapplicable.However, the other three issues are.Prohibition of child labor within the plantation setting did create a slight confusion among the local communities because when children were found to be lurking around the estates, helping out their parents, it was almost automatically assumed that the practice of child labor existed.Many children came to the estates after school hours because no one was home.So, parents prefer their children to come to the estate instead.The definition of child labor in this assessment is whenever a child of school age is found to be at the plantation or mills during school hours, carrying out some work and getting paid, or when a child is forcefully taken out of school to help at the estates.For the Tapang Semadak context, 84.7% of the respondents said there is no child labor issue within the area and that the village apparatus had never responded to this matter.As many as 56% of the respondents said there is no environmental damage or issue within the area, but 36% said there is.The ones who answered "yes" elaborate more that mainly the causes are littering, trash, illegal gold mining, water pollution from the oil palm waste, and company-owned palm oil plantation.
Moreover, 91.7% of the respondents said there are no human rights violation incidents or cases, and 8.3% do not have information.In Sepulut, 67.5% of the respondents said there is no child labor issue within the area, but 20% of them said there is, 12.5% are not sure, and that the village apparatus had never responded to this matter and that the matter has not been resolved accordingly.As many as 52.6% of the respondents said there is no environmental damage or issue within the area, but 39.5% said there is.The ones who answered "yes" elaborate more that mainly the causes are littering from kiosk/café owners, trash, river pollution, illegal gold mining, illegal logging, water pollution from the oil palm waste, and company-owned palm oil plantation.Moreover, 70.3% of the respondents said there are no human rights violation incidents or cases, 8.1% confirmed that there are cases, and 21.6% do not have information on this matter (Figure 3 points 3.14, 3.15, and 3.16).

Conclusion
It was found that equal opportunity between men and women is in place within both villages, especially in terms of education, wages, and job distribution, even though some small numbers of women still face inequality to some degree.Men and women have a communal understanding regarding education opportunities for girls and boys, and the challenges come from external factors such as financial and geographical.Interestingly, in both locations, in terms of housework and helping out the family, boys are getting more responsibilities than girls, while the conventional values about how girls are expected to be more capable of managing the house are still very much around.
One major issue that is surfacing is the ownership of assets.Most women do not legally own lands or plantations, neither houses nor private vehicles.Most of the assets are owned by the husbands or other family members.Some of the women who owned property and land obtained it through inheritance.Moreover, many of them also mentioned that their house was given to them verbally, but their names still need to be added to the deed.The level of ownership assessed during this session referred to legal documents such as deeds or certificate ownership with the woman's name on it as the rightful owner.
As for primary health care services, the accessibility is relatively adequate.Furthermore, womenfriendly service is also available., because the primary health care provider is located at the center of the village and very accessible.Women-friendly service entails the availability of a female doctor and/or nurse.Essential sexual reproductive services such as contraception and pregnancy test are also available in both villages.The questionable issue is access to clean water for women because West Kalimantan is infamous for having low-quality water.
While many gender-centric aspects are met, at a glance, people seem to have enough understanding regarding gender equality.Unfortunately, In Sepulut, women's involvement in various crucial platforms is still considerably low.Women have more decision-making power in the household than in workplaces or village governance.Another unfortunate fact is that the eagerness to learn and build capacity is low.Some even feel they have no need or urgency to build their capacity.Regarding child labor, human rights violations, and environmental damages, the vast majority said those things never happened.However, the split of opinions on these matters is quite interesting to be explored further.

Recommendation
Gender inclusivity does not exclusively belong to women, but its inclusion is for everyone.Thus, ensuring that women and men have room to negotiate, grow, learn, and strive is imperative.In order to achieve the inclusivity agenda, no one should be left behind.Having an exclusively all-female group is not better for women and men.Women and men must enjoy the opportunities to collaborate and build networks together.Empowerment of women is not about making women more dominant or superior to men.It is about enabling the environment for women to work side by side with men as equal partners.Both women and men should be acknowledged and appreciated based on their expertise, skills, and capacity.Within a patriarchal society such as Indonesia, to create enabling rooms for women, gender knowledge and sensitization are imperative aspects for women and men.Exposing men to basic gender knowledge will be one of the keys to achieving gender inclusivity.

9 Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Women's Participation in Development Issues (%)Source: Solidaridad ,2021 (processed) Noted : TS : Tapang Semadak; S : Sepulut 54.3% of the women in Sepulut feel that women and girls are involved in product marketing.Those involved said that women and girls are used to sales and marketing processes.Meanwhile, in Tapang Semadak, 48% of the women feel that women and girls are involved in product marketing.There were mixed responses to this question, and the percentage is similar between the two locations.However, the percentage of women and girls involved in the sales and marketing processes is double that of those who are not.It is a classic example of how women and girls are automatically deemed more capable of marketing products than men.The problem is whether or not their involvement provides accurate access to the market because if men still control the market, then the involvement reflected here is merely a mirage (Figure3point 3.2)We know that most women play significant roles in the household setting as financial managers.However, this assessment wants to seek a more profound role for women regarding finances.Most women from both villages answered that their role in increasing household income is supportive.It means they are not the primary breadwinner, and women contribute an insignificant amount of extra income to the household.The second highest percentage is the normative role, where women only manage the household income without contributing to the family's income-generating scheme.Women in Tapang Semadak who have no roles at all is a slightly higher percentage than the one in Sepulut.Nevertheless, who determines what sort of income-generating scheme the family should take on board?(Figure3point 3.3)In Sepulut Village, 62.9% of women do not significantly determine household income mechanisms, whereas 25.7% do, and 8.8% selectively do both.Women are primarily involved in the additional household income scheme, according to 64.1% of women.Only 10.3% are in primary income, and 25.4% are in both schemes.While in Tapang Semadak Village, 42.3% of women do not have a significant role in determining the household income mechanisms, whereas 26.9% do, and 23.1% selectively both.Women are primarily involved in the additional household income scheme, according to 76% of women.Only 4% are in primary income, and 20% are in both schemes.When women do not have a significant role in determining the household income-generating mechanisms, it means that either the husbands or the family decide what kind of mechanisms will be taken or applied.Women may disagree with the decision