Erat Indonesia is an organization that was just established in 2019, and received legal approval in October 2019. As the name implies, Erat (Elderly Rights, Advocacy and Treatment) is engaged in the themes of supporting, protecting and assisting the elderly in Indonesia. The long-term goal of Erat Indonesia’s movement <(>&<)> activities is to present a series of protection and strengthening strategies for the Indonesian elderly, especially the vulnerable elderly, which in turn will provide opportunities for many elderly people to be able to get a decent life, be protected, stay connected and an equal space in society. Erat Indonesia as a new institution gets a great opportunity to express its movement thanks to the support of Voice Indonesia in 2019 in the SMILEErat program. A program based on the formation and strengthening of the elderly community, which is driven by elderly advocates/elderly advocates. Through this SMILE program, Erat Indonesia has succeeded in encouraging the emergence of a community of elderly women and elderly waria in Yogyakarta. The SMILE program has also succeeded in encouraging and strengthening the role of elderly advocates/activators in reaching, encouraging and advocating for other elderly people, such as in advocating for ID cards for transgender elderly and solitary elderly in Gunungkidul. Looking ahead, we place the power of participatory, collaborative and spirit of learning as the basis for our shared optimism to reach further. to break through the limitations, isolation and isolation that other elderly people face. Strengthening is still very much needed in this process, especially in strengthening cooperation with support groups, especially from young people. As the main supporter of the elderly, as well as reducing the generation gap which is often used as the basis for discrimination.

In the SMILE (2020) program supported by Voice Indonesia, four (4) elders communities have succeeded in standing up, carrying out collective activities and seeking advocacy for the elderly without ID cards. One of the major achievements of the SMILE program is the success of cis women and transwomen elders defenders in expressing their ideas and thoughts in the elderly story book “Keep Stepping”. The ideas and thoughts of the elderly in the book “Continue to Step” have received a positive response from various groups, both from the young community in Indonesia and even from local authorities (Gunungkidul Regency Government). Of course this can be a reinforcement for future collaborations. The valuable experience in the SMILE program, namely the aspects of togetherness and acceptance, emerged very strongly in the work of the elderly community. From our documentation, we learn that mutually reinforcing cooperation between the transwomen and cis women elders is a sign that togetherness in campaigning and fighting for the rights of the elderly is very achievable and can be developed in the future. The protection of the rights of the elderly through the role of the elderly defender and the elderly community in the SMILE program can certainly underlie efforts to expand and improve the protection of the rights of the elderly. In order to be able to reach more, even to the elderly who are not members of the elderly community. For this reason, Erat Indonesia proposed a scale up program, which aims to providea safer, easier and more affordable space and increasing the accessibility of the vulnerable elderly to direct assistance, advocacy, social support and care support for the transwomen and cis women elders who live alone (solitary). The Senior Support Center (SSC) will focus on transwomen older adults who are vulnerable, by it means the majority of transwomen older adults have lived through discrimination, social stigma, and the effects of prejudice both past and present, including a history of being labeled as criminals, sinners, and mentally ill. As the first step, we plan to build a safe space for the elderly with high vulnerability and low support from the society and the government. The Senior Support Center (SSC) will be run by involving experts to support strengthening in the legal/advocacy and gerontology as well as the geriatric aspects. However, the main key actors of the Senior Support Center (SSC) are the elderly defenders who are based in the community of transwomen and cis women older adults. The leadership and especially the role of the elderly defender in the Senior Support Center (SSC) is based on the understanding that the problems of the elderly cannot be approached only with a formal and thematic approach. However, it is very dependent on building trust based on equality of experience, acceptance of the value of life and other cultural aspects. So the role of the elderly defender becomes very irreplaceable. The Senior Support Center (SSC) program will be implemented for 24 months. Furthermore, the main activities in this Senior Support Center program are 1) Training and Workshop; 2) Structuring and systematizing support work, providing assistance and advocacy for the elderly in SSC; 3) Knowledge Building as a collaborative work forth elderly and supporting the elderly; 4) Strengthening collaboration between institutions and across generations. We hope that the Senior Support Center (SSC) program can produce positive benefits for the protection of the rights of the elderly, which is marked by the active Hot-line for the transwomen and women older adult which can be easily and safely accessed by them. The presence of a quick-response team in collecting data, reaching out and providing support to vulnerable elderly people, which goes hand in hand with the management of Hot-line information is well available. We hope that the Senior Support Center (SSC) program will strengthen support and collaboration between experts in strengthening and protecting the elderly, transwomen women and women. This includes encouraging discussion and collaboration in an effort to realize the presence of the Elderly Transwomen Shelter in Yogyakarta. The development of guidelines for assisting vulnerable elderly people will also be one of the outputs of the Senior Support Center (SSC) program, which is expected to provide guidance for mentoring that is participatory, healthy, humane and upholds the dignity of the elderly. The changes we expect from this program are strengthening advocacy movements, increasing the intensity and quality of movements to protect the rights of the elderly, as well as increasing support and facilitation/assistance for the transwomen and women older adult and also other high vulnerable elders. The direct benefit of this project is the presence of a structure that is specifically able to provide feedback and support that is easily accessible to the elderly, especially transwomen and women older adults.