ISS MA students creatively demand more inclusive social policy

New Zealand Aotearoa’s anti-smoking policy ‘Smokefree 2025’

New Zealand Aotearoa’s ground-breaking anti-smoking policy ‘Smokefree 2025’ - now under attack by the new government – seeks to reduce smoking addition by reducing the availability of cigarettes and providing support for quitting. The clip highlights how the indigenous Māori are more than proportionately affected by smoking addiction as a result of colonization and raises the question whether ‘Smokefree 2025’ effectively addresses Māori needs.

Indonesian policy to tackle Online Child Exploitation and Abuse

New forms of social policy are required to tackle discrimination and abuse in online spaces. This is what the Indonesian policy to tackle Online Child Exploitation and Abuse seeks to achieve through new legislation, counselling through a helpline and awareness raising for prevention. The student team that engaged with this policy critically interrogated whether addressing adult persons in power, such as parents, teachers, and religious leaders, is appropriate for prevention and support when children rather reach out to peers for support.

Bogotá’s scholarship ‘Jóvenes a la U’ (Youth to the University)

The Colombian capital Bogotá’s scholarship ‘Jóvenes a la U’ (Youth to the University) seeks to pave the way to university for marginalized groups. These target groups range from mothers via persons with disabilities to indigenous communities. The students identify contradictions in the programme’s design: Conflict-displaced populations are listed among the target groups, while the eligibility criteria stipulate that participants must hold a high school degree from the capital itself, that way excluding the bulk of the displaced population.

Indonesian unemployment insurance 'Jamilan Kehilangan Pekerjaan'

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, unemployment has become an even more pressing public policy concern. Lockdowns to contain the disease led to steep rises in unemployment and poverty around the world. The Government of Indonesia implemented the ‘Jamilan Kehilangan Pekerjaan’ unemployment insurance scheme during the Covid-19 pandemic to tackle rising unemployment rates. Given the massive informal employment in Indonesia and exclusions of the self-employed, gig workers and workers in a range of other industries from the insurance, the clip raises questions about the effective coverage of the scheme.

Indonesia's pre-employment card 'Kartu Prekerja'

Another policy innovation to address unemployment in Indonesia is the pre-employment card ‘Kartu Prekerja’. The intervention has helped to enable access to employment training in areas such as digital, entrepreneurship, language and leadership skills for groups often pushed to the margins of the Indonesian labour market, such as women and people with disabilities.

Rwanda's National Gender Policy

In the context of post-genocide Rwanda, the country’s ‘National Gender Policy’ addresses persistent gender inequalities in a wide range of areas. Its components address both greater respect for women and girls and redistribute resources in a more gender-just manner. This happens, for instance, through the creation of a conducive legal framework, accountability mechanisms in public and private policies and the engagement of men and boys, as well as through initiatives for women’s economic empowerment and women and girls’ effective access to education and healthcare. However, the team problematises that the policy is informed by the same heteronormative assumptions that it seeks to counter. 

Peru's conditional cash transfer programme 'Juntos' (Together)

Last but not least, one group of students engaged with Peru’s conditional cash transfer programme ‘Juntos’ (Together) that seeks to break the intergenerational transfer of poverty. Their video contrasts the programme’s ambition to build children’s human capital and contribute to mothers’ empowerment with its observed effects: While ‘Juntos’ seeks to secure health and education for vulnerable populations, its effect on school results has been mixed. Besides, its focus on mothers as beneficiaries ties women to their caring roles, that way reproducing existing gender inequalities.