Honoring the unsung heroes – Indonesian extraordinary women who make a difference in their lives, and also the lives of others.

Srikandi Award is recognition of midwives who have run health development programs involving community members and leaders in their respective regions. Aside of showing appreciation for midwives’ greatest efforts to support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) especially the Goal 1 (eradicate extreme poverty and hunger), 4 (reduce child mortality rate) and 5 (improve maternal health), this program is also expected to inspire and to encourage other parties to commit and to endeavor in achieving the MDGs targets in Indonesia by 2015. Indonesian Health and Demography Survey 2007 revealed that Mother Mortality Rate (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) remain serious problems in Indonesia. There are 228 cases of mother mortality among 100,000 live births and 34 infants died for every 1,000 births. The data showed that Indonesia has the highest MMR and IMR among ASEAN countries.

Started in 2009, Srikandi Award is expected to motivate health workers and to inspire and encourage the establishment of new Pos Bhakti Bidan throughout the country to improve community health and to help the government in achieving targets in 2015.

Through its experience with Srikandi Award, not only has Alchemy become used to managing huge and prestigious events, but it has also gained invaluable knowledge about the remarkable Indonesian midwives and their contributions to society. Since this program provides numerous benefits that augment the midwives’ reputations, it is quite natural that it has also received support from the Indonesian Midwives Association (IBI), The Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection and Indonesian MDG’s representatives.