Originally Rutgers Indonesia, YGSI is a non-profit organization that has operated in Indonesia for the past 25 years, since their establishment in 1997 known as the World Population Fund (WPF). With a strong focus on improving and advocating for sexual and reproductive health rights, as well as combating sexual and gender-based violence in Indonesia, YGSI has a vision of creating a healthy future that recognizes and respects human rights, equality, and inclusivity, for all Indonesian young people.

Earlier this year on January 1st 2024, the organization officially established themselves as a separate entity from Rutgers, and started their operations as YGSI. And on April 29  2024, they officially launched with a special event held at the Royal Netherlands Embassy Jakarta with the theme of Together Towards a Glorious Future, marking a significant milestone in the journey of strengthening Comprehensive Reproductive Health and Sexuality Education or known as PKRS in Indonesia.

Since they began their mission, the organization has been operating in 13 regions across Indonesia, namely; North Sumatra, Jambi, Lampung, Jakarta Capital Special Region, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta Region, East Java, Bali, South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara and Papua.

Aside from their reach, YGSI has also helped a multitude of lives, impacting over 107,182 individuals, providing over 41,186 students with PKRS, training over 1,795 teachers with PKRS modules, and involving over 12,760 Indonesian youths in their initiatives.

In the past 10 years alone the organization has launched 9 programs, all of which contribute to YGSI’s mission of spreading awareness and information regarding sexual rights and reproductive health. Their earliest initiative which was launched in 2015, Get Up Speak Out, for example, was an educational program crafted for teens in collaboration with the regional governments in Lampung, Central Java, and Bali, which served as a safe space for teens to learn about gender sensitivity alongside comprehensive reproductive health and sexuality education

While their most recent initiative, Power to You(th) and Right Here Right Now2, is a program that invites Indonesian youths from ages 12 to 24 to participate in sharing YGSI’s comprehensive reproductive health and sexuality education.

A throughline of their programs, aside from aligning with their vision, is collaboration with key partners.

Marieke van der Plas, Executive Director of Rutgers Netherlands, commented about this aspect of YGSI’s operations during their launch event, stating. ”In our line of work it is always challenging to have impact with such limited resources, this is why collaborating with the Indonesian government and our partners is the key to improving sexuality education in this country. Thankfully we’ve had a wealth of diversity in the partners that have helped us, from the local government to private entities.”

Lany Harijanti, Chairman of the YGSI Board of Trustees, shared the same perspective, commenting. ”Education regarding sexuality is still quite taboo in Indonesia, this is a big reason why YGSI exists in Indonesia. Because creating accessible education about this topic helps break the taboo, and we do this by closely working with the government and crafting educational programs that implement Indonesian culture so that our youths can more easily grasp it.”

During the event, YGSI also hosted an interactive dialogue with key figures from the Indonesian government and education institution. Titled Breaking the Boundaries towards Comprehensive Reproductive Health and Sexuality Education Sustainability, the discussion was joined by representatives of Ministry of Education and Culture, Riksma Nurahmi Rialto Akhlan, Head of the Special Education Bachelors Program at the Indonesia University of Education’s Faculty of Education, Sanyulandy Leowalu, CSE Officer at YGSI,

In the discussion, Sanyulandy elaborated upon YGSI’s expansion plan for this year and what partnerships the organization has entered to realize their vision. Mentioning that YGSI is ramping up for their operations in Garut, with around 400 local schools set to adapt their PKRS modules into their curriculums with help from the regional government.

This section of the discussion really highlighted how YGSI wants to strongly start their first year of operations as a separate entity from Rutgers. Emphasizing their dedication to spreading PKRS to students all over Indonesia, whilst also underlining the organization’s critical openness to collaborating with the government.

Similarly, Riksma’s section in the dialogue further explained YGSI’s efforts, detailing how the education sector is adopting the material from the organization’s PKRS modules. She states that the Indonesian University of Education has been collaborating with YGSI since 2022, back when it was still operating as Rutgers Indonesia, and in these couple of years they have been helping YGSI tune their material in order to implement their teachings more effectively in schools across Indonesia, particularly in special needs schools.

As for the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture, they explained that YGSI has been working closely with them to develop PKRS modules for people with disabilities tailored for teachers, parents, and students who are in their 7th and 8th year of school, which are considered to be the critical emerging years of adolescence.

Circling back to their initial vision of materializing an Indonesia where the future generation are empowered and can receive proper access to reproductive health rights, equality and inclusivity to eliminate the issue of sexual and gender-based violence and improve upon awareness regarding sexual reproductive health rights. Yayasan Gemilang Sehat Indonesia is on the right track to achieve their goals, with a roster of inclusive educational programs and effective partnerships with key stakeholders from both the government and educational institutions, YGSI is set to create their own positive legacy after 25 years of learning alongside Rutgers.

Source: Rutgers

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