The Maluku Islands sectarian conflict was a period of ethno-political conflict along religious lines during 1999-2002, which spanned the Indonesian islands that compose the Maluku archipelago, with particularly serious disturbances in Ambon and Halmahera Islands.
Many women have to fight alone to meet the needs of their families. There were those who left their husbands because their husbands were married to other women and there were also husbands who died because they went away to get money. One of them is Wa Dudu, a woman victim of the Ambon riots who faced a very difficult situation after her husband raped his own niece when Wa Dudu was away from work. Now her husband must leave her because she has to marry her niece.
On the other hand, the livelihoods of local residents who live side by side with the refugees are also sad. Wa Safiah is a local woman who has to work alone because her husband is sick. She tried her best even though sometimes she felt sad because the lives of poor local people like her were not taken into account in such a way as the refugees living in the neighborhood.
The Female-Headed Household Empowerment Program (PEKKA), which began in 2001, is operating in 19 provinces in Indonesia and has 750 groups in 475 villages as of March 31, 2012. PEKKA has benefitted around 20,000 women and approximately 52,000 of their family members by improving their livelihood and well-being.
