Short 1954 item in WIDF's 'Women Write to Us From Everywhere' by Darmini, Assistant General Secretary of Gerwani. She reports the Gerwani congress as a success, with WIDF representative Monica Felton present and foreign delegates (Dutch, Australian, Soviet) touring the country, a first in Indonesian women's movement hi
Monica Felton (WIDF Vice-President) writes in 1954 on the Second Congress of Gerwani, which she attended: 349 delegates, 80,000 members, a meeting with President Sukarno, resolutions on West Irian, the 1955 elections, a nationwide marriage law, democratic rights and support for the government against armed gangs. She s
WIDF 1954 profile of Miss Darmini of GERWIS, reporting to a WIDF meeting. Membership rose from 6,000 at the 1951 first congress to 37,000 by 1953 and about 600,000 prior to the March 1954 second congress (as printed); the Union of Railway Workers' Wives affiliated. She describes campaigns on women's rights, maternity l
Simone Bertrand, WIDF Assistant General Secretary, reports in 1955 on the Fifth WIDF Council meeting in Geneva (45 countries). She cites GERWANI as a remarkable example: mostly peasant and plantation women, membership up from 80,000 to 281,000 in a year, and with nine organisations it formed a committee opposing a US b
1955 article by Suharti (Suharti Suwarto), Vice-President of Gerwani, based on her speech at the WIDF Council in Geneva. Links the Bandung Conference to peace; says Gerwani had 281,000 members; calls for reunion of Western Irian; reports women's election preparations, winning the right to be polling officers, support f
1956 page of speeches to the WIDF Council: Teng Ying-chao (China), Hajrah Begum (India) and Suharti, Gerwani Vice-President and MP. Suharti reports Gerwani membership grew from 281,000 to 565,147, its cooperation at the Palembang Women's Congress (March 1955), International Children's Day events, and delegations demand
1956 WIDF bulletin item on Indonesia: the Gerwani Central Council's report on cooperation with other women's organisations, overcoming mistrust, membership rising from 281,000 to 565,147, local marriage-rights actions, rural work with peasant groups, the All-Indonesia Women's Congress adopting Gerwani's proposed Charte
1957 'Letter to an Unknown Friend' by Sudjinah (Gerwani) on Indonesian children's conditions, framed by colonial history, Japanese occupation and the Round Table agreement. Gives statistics (15-20% infant mortality, one doctor per 59,000, illiteracy 65%, 5 of 12 million children in school) and notes Gerwani, with the I
Excerpt from the WIDF Information Bulletin No. 14 (1957): Mme Suwarti (Suwarti Bintang Suradi), member of the Gerwani executive, reports on social insurance and protection for mothers and children in Indonesia. She notes obstacles for women officials, company rules such as Shell-BPM ending employment on marriage, lack
WIDF magazine 1957 'We Saw and Heard at the Council Meeting' with delegate speeches at the Helsinki Council. Umi Sardjono, President of Gerwani (640,000 members), reports a nationwide marriage-law campaign, the 1955 elections (five Gerwani members in parliament, six in the Constituent Assembly, 52 provincial councillor
Article by Suwarti Bintang Suradi (Gerwani), dated Berlin 20 Dec 1957, in WIDF's magazine on Indonesia's West Irian campaign: mass rally of a million in Jakarta, ten-minute silence, general strike in Dutch firms, takeover of Dutch enterprises, KLM ban, UN defeat, international support. Names Gerwani among organisations
WIDF Information Bulletin no. 10/1958 report on Gerwani since its Third Congress (December 1957): regional conferences, new constitution (branches replace workplace branches, 20-member minimum), plan to double membership, campaign for a national marriage law against polygamy with Sumari (PNI) and Mudigdio (PKI) MPs in
1958 WIDF note: Indonesian women write that the country faces rebellion backed by SEATO and the US (the PRRI/Permesta crisis), and that women join the struggle shoulder to shoulder with men. Gerwani sets up public kitchens, collects food and magazines for the front, runs first aid; in rebel-held West Sumatra its leader
Api Kartini (1959) article on how the WIDF (GWDS) and millions of women abroad supported Indonesia's independence struggle, noting Gerwani as an Indonesian member. Recounts WIDF's 1947 message to the UN against the Dutch aggression, Dutch women's protests (Schoonhoven, NVB), 1949 actions and later solidarity on Irian B
Api Kartini (December 1959) news-roundup column. Notes the Kungalv (Sweden) women's disarmament conference attended by A. Hidayat, a Gerakan Ibu protest letter to the UN on French A-bomb tests, Jakarta preparations for the 50th International Women's Day (lectures among peasant women, bazaar), and a DPP Gerwani work mee
Api Kartini (1959) article welcoming Cameroon's coming independence (1 January 1960). Profiles Marthe Ouandie of the Cameroon women's movement and WIDF (based in East Berlin), who knows Indonesian women of GERWANI through WIDF and the peasant-women's federation; expresses Indonesian women's solidarity and support for U
Api Kartini preview of the WIDF Bureau meeting due in Indonesia (early 1960), profiling its leaders: President Eugenie Cotton, Secretary-General Carmen Zanti, Marie Ange, Beatrice Johnson and Asian-African vice-presidents. Notes WIDF's support for Indonesian independence and condemnation of Dutch aggression, and that G
Api Kartini report on the lavish Jakarta commemoration of 50 years of International Women's Day (6-8 March 1960): exhibition at Gedung Pertemuan Umum, a two-day seminar, and an 8 March reception attended by 1,500. Umi Sardjono spoke on the history of the women's movement; Setiati Surasto presented on food and clothing;
Api Kartini report on the WIDF Bureau meeting in Jakarta, 31 January-3 February 1960, at Hotel Duta Indonesia, the first WIDF meeting held in Indonesia. Quotes Prime Minister Juanda's welcome and speeches by Anasuya Gyankhand, Marie Pritt, Thiele, Maria Rossi and Marguerite de Ponce; delegates met Kowani and Gerwani ac
Part I of Sulami's 1959 history of the Indonesian women's movement in WIDF's magazine: Kartini, Putri Merdika (1912), Wanita Sedar, the 1928 Women's Congress, the Congress League of Indonesian Women, and demands on marriage, education and voting rights through 1941, with PKI influence noted after 1920. Prefaces the bir
Part III of Sulami's 1959 history: KOWANI conflicts and 1948 Solo congress, founding of Gerwis at Semarang (4 June 1950), its 1954 renaming as Gerwani, structure with six commissions, membership growth (6,000 Java 1951; 642,460 in January 1957; 700,000 at the Third Congress, Solo, Dec 1957), 1955 election results (5 MP
Short interview note (1960) in WIDF's magazine: Maasje Siwi, director of the new monthly women's magazine Api Kartini, explains its aims. Published under the Jajasan Melati committee, which includes Gerwani members. Magazine launched June 1959; aims to develop women's knowledge, patriotism and international friendship;
Api Kartini (1961) human-interest profile of Jenab, a poor peasant woman from Pabuaran village, West Java, who attended the DPP Gerwani National Seminar on Peasant Women in Jakarta with her baby. Describes her family's poverty (8 of 12 children died) and her hopes for implementing the sharecropping and agrarian laws; n
Api Kartini (1961) 'Echoes' column on the Afro-Asian Solidarity Council session in Bandung, 10-14 April 1961, based on interviews with women delegates. Features Marthe Moumie of Cameroon (widow of the poisoned Felix Moumie), delegates from Ceylon, Vietnam (Nguyen Thi Luu) and Iran, and a tea hosted by DPP Gerwani for t
Api Kartini (mid-1961) report on the exhibition at Gerwani's 10th anniversary (from 5 June 1961), with an interview of chair Umi Sardjono on Gerwani's history. Founded 4 June 1951 (first congress Surabaya, 17-22 Dec 1951), 185 branches, membership from 6,000 to 710,000, 326 kindergartens, 23,000 election workers; six m
Api Kartini report on the 4th National Congress of Gerwani, Jakarta, December 1961 (about 400 delegates and observers), with Sukarno attending. Lists foreign guests: Gloria Garton for WIDF, Soviet, Chinese and East German delegates. Sukarno called Gerwani one of the forces for the Irian Barat struggle and urged total u
1961 article by Maasje Siwi on Gerwani's first National Seminar on Peasant Women's Problems. Describes peasant hardships (debt, child marriage, easy divorce, exclusion from village office) and demands: land reform and women's land ownership, crop-sharing law, abolition of colonial ban on women village heads. Features d
Api Kartini report on the registration of volunteers for the Irian Barat liberation (Trikora) at the National Front building, 17 January 1962. A Gerwani delegation led by Hurustiati Subandrio, with Aruji Kartawinata and others, declared readiness for training and handed in the list of women volunteers to Secretary-Gene
Api Kartini (1963) report by Ratna on the Gerwani DPP Plenary held in Jakarta, 6-10 January 1963, a year after the 4th Congress. Umi Sardjono's general report praised the Irian Barat victory and the end of the state of emergency (1 May 1963), and the plenary resolved to strengthen the Nasakom-based national front, supp
1963 WIDF bulletin article 'The Need for Social Services in Indonesia': the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani) and others push kindergartens. It reports a first National Seminar on kindergartens in 1959, teacher courses in 1961-62, the aim of one kindergarten per street, over 700 kindergartens (first started in 1951