Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Activists from the Women Head the Family (Pekka) group in West Java have urged the legislature and provincial administration to allocate more funds and provide greater access to facilities for female heads of households.

More than 5 million women in the province are the main breadwinners in their households.

The activists, from 10 regencies – Sukabumi, Karawang, Cianjur, Subang, Garut, Indramayu, Cirebon, Ciamis, Majalengka and Sumedang – presented their requests to the legislature on Thursday.

The group represents around 1,300 women who head their family, 90 percent of whom are widows. The group is part of the Women Heads of Household empowerment program sponsored by the Japanese government since 2000.

Mintarsih, 54, a widow with three children from Sukasirna in Cibadak, Sukabumi, said village and district officials discriminated against female household heads. This occurs when women go through registration procedures for cash assistance and applications for soft loans from banks to set up small businesses, as authorities tend to have greater trust in male household heads when disbursing the assistance, she said.

"The registration procedure is unfair. I've been neglected and subject to social jealousy. The government seldom pays attention to widows," said Mintarsih, who became active in her village after joining the group 18 months ago. Mintarsih, who sells tempeh, said she felt boosted after joining the group, made up of a number of widows in Cibadak district.

Sumini, 45, a widow from Telagasari in Cadas Kertajaya, Karawang, said the government should pay greater attention to female heads of households who faced great difficulty in getting work they could do from home.

"We have to raise our children. So we have to find work that allows us to also take care of our children," said the mother of four.

Field counselor of the Pekka Cianjur chapter, Oemi Faezathi, said the provincial administration had begun to address the issue by rolling out the empowerment program to six new regencies in addition to those in Sukabumi, Karawang, Cianjur and Subang.

"However, the program is reaching only a small proportion of widows or female heads of households in West Java," Oemi said.

National data show that more than 40 million women are widows, about 13 percent of whom are living in poverty. In West Java alone, there are more than 5 million widows in areas including Subang, Karawang, Indramayu and Cirebon.

"That's why I urge the provincial legislature and administration to strengthen their commitment to equal opportunity and rights for every citizen," Oemi said.

West Java provincial assistant secretary Feri Suparman said the province had set aside 5 percent of the budget for women's empowerment. He added that the administration would seek to raise it to 5.5 percent of the total 2009 provincial budget of around Rp 7.9 trillion.

"The issue is still being discussed during debate of the draft budget by the budget commission. Hopefully, they are sensitive to the issue and will approve the budget allocation," Feri said.