Empower Women with Sustainable Livelihood

Yogyakarta, 26 November 2025 — Yayasan INFEST organised an activity on the Development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the Savings and Loans Unit of the Central Migrant Workers Cooperative (KPTKI) as part of its efforts to strengthen the economic institutions of migrant workers. The activity was held in Yogyakarta with the support of AWO International, under the Economic Empowerment and Strengthening Migrant Workers’ Access to Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration Services program.

 The activity was attended by 24 participants, including representatives of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Community (KOPI) from Blitar and Ponorogo, members of the KPTKI management board, INFEST staff, and representatives from the cooperative network. The main agenda included the presentation of the draft SOP for the KPTKI Savings and Loans Unit, learning from best practices in cooperative financial management, and participatory discussions to gather input for refining the SOP.

 The discussion session began with a presentation by Akhmad Fadli, who shared practical experience from managing a savings and loans cooperative. He presented the case of El Sejahtera Cooperative in Cilacap, which started as a women’s savings group at the village level in 2002 and has since grown into a cooperative managing assets worth billions of rupiah. This session provided valuable insights for participants on cooperative establishment, business models, risk management, and long-term sustainability.

 Based on the discussions, the KPTKI management and participants agreed on several strategic steps, including reducing the amount of initial membership savings to make participation more accessible, introducing a gradual savings mechanism, and formulating an initial context-sensitive savings and loans scheme that reflects the conditions of migrant worker communities in Blitar and Ponorogo. These measures are expected to expand members’ access to cooperative services while strengthening the cooperative’s capital base inclusively.

The activity was facilitated by the INFEST team, including Sofwan Hadi, Novia Putri, Anny Hidayati, and Edi Purwanto. Key discussion points and recommendations from the forum will be used to finalize the SOP for the KPTKI Savings and Loans Unit, which will subsequently be shared with KOPI members in Blitar and Ponorogo as a follow-up to the activity.

Through this initiative, INFEST reaffirms its commitment to strengthening collective economic structures for migrant workers through transparent, inclusive, and sustainable cooperative management, as a critical foundation for economic empowerment and social protection for migrant workers and their families.