Developing a Sustainable Design for Gender Mainstreaming Capacity Building: Lessons from Training Support in SKALA Program Regions

Gender Mainstreaming (PUG – Pengarusutamaan Gender) integrates gender equality perspective throughout the entire development cycle, from planning, implementation, and monitoring, through to policy evaluation. This is supported by a robust legal framework, initiated by Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 9/2000, and is consistently included in Indonesia’s long and medium-term development planning documents. PUG aims to integrate gender equality into the planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of national and subnational development policies, in line with the mandate of each level of government. At the subnational level, PUG is governed by regulations issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri – Kementerian Dalam Negeri). However, significant challenges remain in implementing PUG. Regional planners and functional staff often lack sufficient technical capacity, human resources remain limited, staff turnover is high, and standardised training materials are lacking. Based on lessons learned from delivering gender-related training and technical assistance, this policy brief recommends developing a systematic approach that facilitates easier access to capacity building in PUG for planners at both the central and regional levels.