FBIS, 11 October 1952: United States indicted for germ war (Asian and Pacific Peace Conference, Peking)
FBIS-monitored Xinhua report (11 Oct 1952) on a session of the Asian and Pacific Peace Conference in Peking: Dr Chen Wen-kuei's indictment of US bacteriological warfare, then speeches by delegates from India, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, Pakistan, Chile, Vietnam. Umi Sardjono, a woman delegate from Indonesia, said Indone
Women Write to Us From Everywhere: Indonesia (Darmini, 1954)
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
Dawn Over the Equator: Monica Felton on the Second Gerwani Congress, 1954
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
Indonesia: Miss Darmini of Gerwis (WIDF, 1954)
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
FBIS, 4 April 1954: 'Gerwani' representatives visit Sukarno
FBIS-monitored Jakarta radio (4 Apr 1954): President and Madame Sukarno received Gerwani members after their Second Congress; Sukarno said equal rights are not women's final mission, which needs a just, prosperous country. A Dutch women's movement member spoke for peace; Sukarno tied Indonesian-Dutch understanding to W
FBIS, 4 April 1954: Indonesian women support Geneva talks
FBIS-monitored Xinhua item (4 Apr 1954): at its congress (25 Mar-1 Apr, Jakarta) the Indonesian women's movement, Gerwani, pledged support for the Geneva Conference and demanded prohibition of weapons of mass destruction. Says Gerwani is the new name of the women's democratic federation (Gerwis), a permanent WIDF membe
Izvestiia, 11 Apr 1954: delegation of Soviet women in Indonesia
Izvestiia, 11 Apr 1954. TASS, citing Harian Rakyat: when a Soviet women's delegation led by A. Kholopova reached Surakarta (Solo), thousands of Gerwani members, students and housewives met it in a demonstration of friendship; the delegation received dozens of invitations in Surakarta and Yogyakarta.
FBIS, 25 September 1954: Report on USSR (Gerwani-sponsored meeting)
FBIS item (25 Sep 1954): on 24 September three Indonesian women who recently visited the Soviet Union lectured on their impressions: social care of women, workers, equal rights, absence of prostitution and marriage legislation. The meeting, sponsored by Gerwani, drew a large audience of women and trade unionists. Shows
Znamia, Oct 1954: 'On the Island of Java' (Yekaterina Shevelyova)
Znamia, 31 Oct 1954, p. 124: opening of Yekaterina Shevelyova's travel essay 'On the Island of Java'. She says a Soviet Anti-Fascist Women's Committee delegation, invited by Gerwani, spent almost a month in Java, then summarises Dutch colonialism, the 1949 Round Table settlement, and the 1954 dissolution of the Dutch-I
WIDF commemorative booklet (Berlin, 1955) for its tenth anniversary: history from the 1945 Paris founding congress, peace and anti-atom campaigns, the 1953 Copenhagen Congress, children's work, the 1955 Lausanne World Congress of Mothers. Page 28 states that in Indonesia 'the women's organization which had 6,000 member
Keynotes of the Council Meeting: Unity and Confidence (Bertrand, 1955)
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
Working for Peace in Asia (Suharti, 1955)
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
Umi Sardjono's General Report to the Third DPP Plenum, June 1956
Umi Sardjono's general report for the Gerwani DPP Executive to the 3rd DPP Plenary (16-19 June 1956), published by DPP Gerwani. Reviews the 1955 election campaign (23,480 new Gerwani workers; five Gerwani members elected, including Umi Sardjono and Salawati), marriage-law and anti-polygamy casework (86 of 115 cases res
Let Us Respect All Opinions: speeches by Teng Ying-chao, Hajrah Begum and Suharti (1956)
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
ACDWF telegrams for 8 March to women's groups incl. Gerwani (Renmin Ribao, 8 March 1956)
Xinhua note in Renmin Ribao, 8 Mar 1956 (p. 4): the All-China Democratic Women's Federation sent International Women's Day telegrams to women's bodies in India, Burma, Pakistan, Egypt and Japan and, in Indonesia, to Gerwani, to Kowani (the Indonesian Women's Congress) and to the Indonesian Women's 8 March Commemoration
ACDWF telegrams for 8 March to women's groups incl. Gerwani (Renmin Ribao, 8 March 1956)
Xinhua note in Renmin Ribao, 8 Mar 1956 (p. 4): the All-China Democratic Women's Federation sent International Women's Day telegrams to women's bodies in India, Burma, Pakistan, Egypt and Japan and, in Indonesia, to Gerwani, to Kowani (the Indonesian Women's Congress) and to the Indonesian Women's 8 March Commemoration
Jakarta protests against Dulles visit; Gerwani statement (Renmin Ribao, 13 March 1956)
Two Xinhua dispatches from Jakarta in Renmin Ribao, 13 Mar 1956 (p. 4). First: US Secretary of State Dulles was met at the airport on 12 March by demonstrators shouting against SEATO, and a girl was arrested for sticking a slogan on his car. Second: Gerwani issued a statement on 11 March condemning the visit as an atte
Jakarta protests against Dulles visit; Gerwani statement (Renmin Ribao, 13 March 1956)
Two Xinhua dispatches from Jakarta in Renmin Ribao, 13 Mar 1956 (p. 4). First: US Secretary of State Dulles was met at the airport on 12 March by demonstrators shouting against SEATO, and a girl was arrested for sticking a slogan on his car. Second: Gerwani issued a statement on 11 March condemning the visit as an atte
Women's delegates speak at WIDF Council; Suharti, Gerwani vice-chairman (Renmin Ribao, 26 April 1956)
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao, 26 Apr 1956 (p. 1), on day two of the WIDF Council meeting in Beijing, with speeches from Indian, German, Malagasy, Argentine, Soviet, Tunisian and British delegates. Suharti, WIDF Council member and vice-chairman of Gerwani, says Indonesian women's organisations are growing, oppose US ef
Women's delegates speak at WIDF Council; Suharti, Gerwani vice-chairman (Renmin Ribao, 26 April 1956)
Xinhua report in Renmin Ribao, 26 Apr 1956 (p. 1), on day two of the WIDF Council meeting in Beijing, with speeches from Indian, German, Malagasy, Argentine, Soviet, Tunisian and British delegates. Suharti, WIDF Council member and vice-chairman of Gerwani, says Indonesian women's organisations are growing, oppose US ef
Speeches at the WIDF Council, part 1 (Renmin Ribao, 7 May 1956)
Renmin Ribao, 7 May 1956, p. 5: abridged speeches (part 1) at the WIDF Council meeting in Beijing. Includes a short statement by Mrs Suharti for Gerwani, welcoming the Bandung resolutions, reporting that Gerwani set up the national preparatory committee and delegation for the Lausanne World Assembly of Mothers, and not
Speeches at the WIDF Council, part 1 (Renmin Ribao, 7 May 1956)
Renmin Ribao, 7 May 1956, p. 5: abridged speeches (part 1) at the WIDF Council meeting in Beijing. Includes a short statement by Mrs Suharti for Gerwani, welcoming the Bandung resolutions, reporting that Gerwani set up the national preparatory committee and delegation for the Lausanne World Assembly of Mothers, and not
Berliner Zeitung, 27 May 1956, p. 6: In June in Budapest ...
Berliner Zeitung, 27 May 1956, p. 6: women's column item "Im Juni wird in Budapest ..." ahead of the World Congress of Working Women. One short paragraph reports that the Indonesian women's organisation GERWANI demands a ban on child marriage, forced marriage and bride-purchase, an end to the ban on widows remarrying,
Communist Campaign in Indonesia (OIR report, July 1956)
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
Gudok, 17 Aug 1956: 'Indonesia today' for the Republic's 11th anniversary
Gudok (Soviet railwaymen's paper), 17 Aug 1956, p. 4. Survey article by G. Svetlanov for the Republic's 11th anniversary: Dutch colonial legacy, nationalisations, five-year plan, foreign policy and Sukarno's coming visit. One passage lists Gerwani, 'half a million members', among leading patriotic mass organisations be
Letter from Emma Poeradiredja to Helen Fowler, 12 January 1957
Letter from Emma Poeradiredja (Bandung, 12 January 1957) to Helen Fowler, answering a request to describe Indonesian women's work. She explains the Kongres Wanita Indonesia umbrella, its three foundations, women's organisations by type (social, officials' wives, political), kindergartens, schools, cooperatives and the
Indonesia: social protection for mothers and children (Suwarti Bintang Suradi, 1957)
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
We Saw and Heard at the Council Meeting, Helsinki 1957: Umi Sardjono for Gerwani
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
ACWF telegram to Gerwani supporting the West Irian struggle (Renmin Ribao, 24 December 1957)
Renmin Ribao, 24 Dec 1957, p. 6 (Xinhua): the All-China Women's Federation telegraphs Gerwani on 21 Dec congratulating it on its national women's congress and pledging that Chinese women fully support Indonesia's struggle to recover West Irian. Short solidarity item.