CIA study, May 1955, surveying PKI organisation and history before the 1955 elections, with a short section on Gerwani among eight front organisations (pp. 49-50) and PKI foreign channels. Earliest extended US assessment of Gerwani as a PKI front.
The Observer, 16 Jan 1955, p.7, Rawle Knox, 'Djakarta Postpones the Evil Day': impressionistic report from Jakarta on a lively, disorderly capital, the Ali Sastroamidjojo government's dependence on Communist support, Sukarno's drift from impartiality, the delayed first election and anti-Dutch boycotts. A passing quote
State Department intelligence report (17 July 1956) on the Soviet and Chinese communist campaign in Indonesia after the 1956 visits, with a chronology of Indonesia-China exchanges. Gerwani features only in the chronology: a May 1956 Gerwani protest against US H-bomb tests, plus Indonesian delegations to the WIDF meetin
CIA Current Intelligence Weekly Summary, 12 Nov 1959, a long multi-topic report; the Indonesia part (pp.23-27) assesses PKI strength (Aidit's claim of 1.5 million members, Java as base, army and Sukarno restrictions, Aidit's 1959 Moscow and Peking trip). It names GERWANI as the PKI's women's front, alongside Pemuda Rak
Compilation of State Department central-file items on Soviet relations with Indonesia, 1960-63 (telegrams, airgrams, despatches). One airgram (7 Dec) 'Soviets Woo Indo Women' describes the Soviet ambassador's wife hosting Indonesian women's leaders at the embassy, noting Gedung Wanita as a hub for Gerwani and Kongres W
Article by Justus M. van der Kroef (Pacific Affairs, summer 1962) on the PKI's dilemmas under Guided Democracy: dependence on Sukarno, the July 1960 'Evaluation' clash with the army, and the party's use of mass fronts. Gerwani is named as the PKI's women's front: its organ was aggressive without censure in 1961, and in
FBIS Daily Report (26 Jul 1962), HathiTrust scan pp.235-236: North Vietnam section carrying a Korean message of solidarity, a Moscow resolution on the Geneva anniversary, and VNA's 25 July item that Gerwani and the Union of Australian Women sent messages to the Vietnam Women's Union. Gerwani protests US aggression and
Short extract of a JPRS Consolidated Translation Survey (1963) listing translations of Harian Rakjat items, including JPRS 20546 on the 13th anniversary of the Indonesian women's movement (S. Djin; 'Thirteen Years of the Communist Womens Movement') and JPRS 20719, Umi Sardjono's speech as head of the Indonesian delegat
Chinese-published pamphlet (Foreign Languages Press, Peking, 1963) with statements and a report by Yang Yun-yu attacking Soviet and WIDF leaders at the June 1963 Moscow World Congress of Women over anti-imperialism versus disarmament and peaceful coexistence. It records the Indonesian delegation, led by Umi Sardjono, s
WIDF publication on the World Congress of Women, Moscow, 24-29 June 1963 (1,543 women, 113 countries): reports, speeches, resolutions and the new WIDF council list. Gerwani is mentioned briefly: its roughly 1,000 day nurseries for working mothers are cited as a model; its role in the West Irian campaign is praised; and
Page from a US JPRS volume (Translations on the People's Republic of China, Oct-Nov 1963) summarising Chinese press reports on the June 1963 WIDF World Congress of Women in Moscow. Indonesian women's leader Parjani Pradono is quoted calling the WIDF programme 'devoid of revolutionary essence' and describing the Indones
Moscow News (English), 29 June 1963, p. 6: report on the WIDF World Congress of Women in Moscow (June 1963), with abridged report by President Eugenie Cotton and sessions on peace, colonialism, children's welfare and women's rights. Umi Sardjono (Indonesia), WIDF Vice-President and Gerwani chair, read greetings from J.
FBIS-monitored Xinhua report (8 Jul 1963): an Indonesian women's delegation, a Nepalese delegate and the Chinese delegation arrived in Peking after the World Congress of Women in Moscow, welcomed by 300 people. Indonesian members include Mme Parjani Pradono (head, Gerwani central committee), Mme Satryo and Mme Muningga
CIA Bi-Weekly Propaganda Guidance, 15 July 1963, on the Sino-Soviet clash at the WIDF Moscow World Congress of Women (June 1963). It quotes the Indonesian press of 9 July, per NCNA, carrying a statement by Maasje Siwi, general secretary of GERWANI, condemning the undemocratic handling of the congress and saying Gerwani
Peking Review Vol. VI No. 29, 19 July 1963, a Chinese weekly. The item of interest is 'Peking Acclaims Women Delegates From Asia, Africa and Latin America' (p. 17): at a Peking meeting after the Moscow World Congress of Women, Mme Parjani Pradono, Central Committee member of the Indonesian women's movement (Gerwani) an
FBIS-monitored KCNA report (24 Jul 1963): Pyongyang meeting welcoming the Indonesian women's delegation led by Mudikdio (Mudigdio), vice chairman of the Gerwani committee and MP. Kim Ok-sun praised the PKI as vanguard of anti-imperialist struggle; Mudigdio said emancipation without revolutionary struggle against coloni
Soviet Woman, 31 Jul 1963, p. 44: WIDF programme adopted at its 1963 Moscow World Congress of Women, with an issue preview and the list of elected leaders. Eugenie Cotton re-elected president. Umi Sardjono (Indonesia) is named among Bureau members, with Freda Brown (Australia), Vilma Espin and others.
FBIS item (5 Aug 1963, Xinhua): three Indonesian women guests reached Peking on 4 August after visiting North Korea: Mudikdio (Mudigdio), vice chairman of the Gerwani Central Committee, MP and member of the Indonesian delegation to the Moscow World Congress of Women, with Lie Tjwan Sien and Muninggar. Welcomed by Hu Na
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180317 (2-9 Oct 1965): Jakarta embassy and Foreign Office telegrams on the 30 September coup, Suharto's takeover, Sukarno and Omar Dani, Soviet press silence, and a Singapore proposal for unattributable propaganda to blacken the PKI. Gerwani is named in Suharto's 4 Oct statement and a 6 Oc
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180320 (Oct-Nov 1965): Gilchrist's despatch no. 13 of 8 Oct 1965 on the coup and counter-coup, plus telegrams, NATO and Commonwealth reports and Chinese/Soviet/Hanoi reactions. The despatch lists GERWANI among 'chief suspects' (p. 11) and says members of PKI youth and women's groups took p
UK Foreign Office file FO 371/180326 (Feb-Aug 1965): embassy telegrams, letters and Antara extracts on the PKI's growth before the coup: its 45th anniversary, Aidit's speeches, Mao's greeting, Sino-Soviet positions and Sukarno's leftward drift. Gerwani items: Antara of 9 June reports Sukarno addressing Gerwani, chaired
FBIS-monitored VNA report (2 Apr 1965) on volunteers in socialist and other countries offering to fight in Vietnam, citing letters from the USSR, China, DPRK, Cuba and Hungary. The final sentence says workers', peasants' and women's organisations in Indonesia called on members to enrol as volunteers and the Indonesian
FBIS Daily Report page (8 Apr 1965; HathiTrust scan p.251, North Vietnam section): continuation of the VNA volunteer report. Contains the passage that about 100 women volunteers led by Mrs Umi Sardjono, president of the Indonesian Women's Movement, went to the DRV Embassy and NFLSV office on 4 April, including wives of
CIA Bi-Weekly Propaganda Guidance of 8 Nov 1965 on Communist fronts (commentary 13-26 Oct 1965, WFTU Warsaw Congress, AAPSO Havana conference, Chinese foreign policy). Setiati Surasto appears only in a list of newly elected WFTU officials (Indonesia); the document notes the WIDF 20th anniversary and Indonesian delegate
UK Foreign Office file FCO 15/155 (Feb 1967 to June 1968) of Jakarta embassy letters, press cables and an air attache's report on the Mahmilub trials of Supardjo and Omar Dani, plus a June 1968 note on a Soviet protest over PKI prisoners. Gerwani appears only in the Omar Dani report, as female youth trained at Lubang B
WIDF 1969 Sixth Congress documents (Helsinki): auditing committee financial report and General Secretary Cécile Hugel's report on activities since 1963. Mostly Vietnam, Middle East and Latin America; Hugel notes WIDF's concern for 'democratic men and women in Indonesia', its telegram to Suharto, and that nothing had be
FBIS item: Radio Peace and Progress (Moscow, in Indonesian, 16 Oct 1975) commentary on Ratna Sari Dewi's letter asking President Ford to explain the CIA's role in 1965. She cites hundreds of thousands killed and tens of thousands jailed without trial. A Dutch editor is quoted saying PKI, SOBSI, Gerwani and Pemuda Rakya
Overview essay by Francisca de Haan (Women and Social Movements International database, c. 2012) on WIDF's origins, agenda, UN role and Cold War marginalisation, 1945-1991. Gerwani is listed once as a large, influential WIDF member organisation (with footnotes to Wieringa and to McGregor on Indonesian women and WIDF);
English edition of Tempo's 'The Feminist in Two Councils' (4 Oct 2021, Hussein Abri) on Umi Sardjono as legislator (Constituent Assembly 1955, DPR-GR 1959-65). It covers her immigration reform, marriage-bill push (minimum age 21, ban on polygamy, Maisuri case, 115 harmful marriages) opposed by Kowani's Islamic groups,