This project aims to provide a platform for self-advocates with psychosocial disabilities to continue their learning process, such as being able to solve the problems they experience, educate more people with psychosocial disabilities about their rights, and advocate on relevant topics that are important to their well-being by run and led an organization independently. This platform will be in the form of Jakarta branch of Indonesian Mental Health Association (Perhimpunan Jiwa sehat/PJS) and functions as a forum for self-development as well as a place to campaign for the rights of persons with psychosocial disabilities to the wider community. This organization will be led and driven by self-advocates independently. It is hoped that this self-run and self-led organization can improve their bargaining position and at the same time become a forum for mutual support in dealing with daily problems. In addition, by expanding IMHA in East Java, they can mobilize more persons with psychosocial disabilities to better understand their rights as persons with disabilities and as citizens.

The planned activities consist of 4 parts:

1. Peer Support Group As someone with mental health problems, living everyday life is already a difficult struggle. This peer support is a safety net where they share stories and encourage one another. Periodically the peer support group will invite a counsellor or mentor to help maintain their psychological fitness, such as a psychologist, yoga instructor, art therapy advisor etc.

2. Capacity Building and Self-Development Activities. This activity aims to develop the capacity of self-advocates to run the organization and develop their respective interests. For organizational development there will be a short leadership training as well as a short training on organizational management and finance. In addition, to improve self-advocates skills to speak in forums, a short public speaking training will be held. For interest and talent development activities, a training program for making short videos using cell phone cameras will be held. In addition, efforts will be made to develop several interest and talent clubs such as the English club, writing club and art club.

3. Campaigns and Education to The Public This activity aims to conduct a campaign to the public about what psychosocial disability is, the obstacles and discrimination experienced and the rights of persons with disabilities as citizens, and to eliminating stigma and discrimination. This is a regular program that will run continuously. Activities that will be carried out in this sub-program including launching short videos about the daily life of persons with psychosocial disability. These videos will made entirely by self-advocates, from script writing, shooting, editing, insert texts as well as all the castings.4.AdvocacyAdvocacy activities are planned to focus on two topics that are closely related to the daily lives of people with psychosocial disabilities. The first is the problem of availability of medical services and psychological therapy. The medication available for people with psychosocial disabilities covered by the BPJS were very limited. Many newer generations of medications with mild side-effects do- not have generic versions available, so they are very expensive. Apart from medicine, counselling and psychological services are very important for persons with psychosocial disabilities, however these services are still rarely provided. For these two issues we will organize a series of advocacy activities targeting the Ministry of Health and the BPJS. The second is the issue of support for persons with psychosocial disabilities while studying in tertiary education. The dropout rate of students with psychosocial disabilities in college and universities is very high. For this reason, it is necessary for the educational facilities to provide support and reasonable accommodation for students with psychosocial disabilities in tertiary institutions. Law No.8 of 2016requires all tertiary institutions to have a disability service unit, but this has not been implemented. We plan to approach a university in Jakarta and encourage them to establish a disability service unit that is also inclusive of persons with psychosocial disabilities.

The bumps on fighting for the rights of persons with disabilities in Jakarta by IMHA 

Since its establishment in 2008, the Indonesia Mental Health Association (IMHA_ is the first organization initiated and run by persons with disabilities to advocate for protecting and fulfilling the rights of people with mental illness in Indonesia. 

The biggest barriers faced by persons with psychosocial disabilities is the lack of reasonable accommodation in order to participate meaningfully in society. One of the issue is accessing to medicine is not fully covered by BPJS Kesehatan/National Social Security Agency for Health Care, so they have to pay by themselves and it costs expensive. In addition, the psychiatric drugs covered by BPJS are old generation drugs that have side effects that can cause tremors, Parkinson’s and other side effects.  

Therefore, IMHA focus on increasing the capacity of persons with psyschosocial isabilities which aims to enable them to advocate for their rights. This improves their bargaining position and becomes a place to support each other. 

Besides the peer support group, capacity building and self-development activities such as training on organizational management, and campaigns education to the public, advocacy is also the main part of the project.  

The rights of persons with disabilities have been set out in International Conventions through the CRPD (Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities) and ratified through Law No. 19 of 2011 and Law No. 8 of 2016 on Person with Disabilities. For this reason, one of the IMHA brances in Jakarta coordinated with the Coalition of Persons with Disabilities Organisations (OPD) in DKI Jakarta to compile a Problem Investment List (Daftar Investasi Masalah or DIM) for the DKI Jakarta Draft Regional Regulation on Persons with Disabilities. The result of the DIM preparation would be proporsed to the regional Government of DKI Jakarta, which was in the process of drafting a regional regulation on disability rights.  

However, the journey did not go as planned. In 2022, IMHA was informed that the regional regulation draft on Persons with Disabilities experienced significant changes after being modified and adjusted at The Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA). The new version of the regulation also overlooked the rights of person with disabilities mapped through a facilitation process. MoHA also removed other articles such as reducing the minimum quotat for workers with disabilities, educational scholarship for person with disabilities are only limited to those having achievements and being economically disadvantaged instead of allowing those with any background, and the guarantee of employment rights for persons with disabilities is no longer an obligation for employers.  

IMHA Jakarta participated in coordinating to issue a press release from the Coalition of OPD in DKI Jakarta and the Working Group on the Implementation of the Law on Persons with Disabilities which was submitted to the MoHA and the Jakarta Regional People’s Representative Council/DPRD DKI. ThThe IMHA Jakarta coordinates with other organization that focus on disabilities and came to the streets and demanded the government to bring back the regional regulation draft originally agreed upom.  

However, the results were not as expected. The DKI Jakarta Coalition of OPD (Organization of Person with Disabilities) no longer received information and the opportunity to discuss the results of facilitation from the MoHA regarding the DKI Regional Regulation Draft on Persons with Disabilities. Thus, there was nothing we could do except critise this matter. The coalition stated that they have substantively, systematically, and procedurally disregarded and betrayed the aspiration of persons with disabilities.  

Advocating for the rights of people with disabilities is often a challenging journey. Despite occasional progress, setbacks are frequent, pushing us backward. However, this doesn’t mean our efforts are in vain. We will continue to fight for this cause.