When people with disabilities and women-headed households are placed at the centre of climate action, something powerful happens. In two villages in West Manggarai, Indonesia, that is exactly what the HARMONI program set out to do.

From December 2025 to April 2026, ASB South and South-East Asia (ASB S-SEA) partnered with two local organisations to implement the HARMONI program (Harapan Mobilisasi Inklusif untuk Iklim, which translates to Hopeful Inclusive Mobilisation for Climate) in the villages of Repi and Warloka Pesisir, in West Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara Province. The program was funded by KINETIK, the Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Climate, Renewable Energy, and Infrastructure.

The full title of the program, “Towards an Inclusive Green Transition in Village Communities,” captures its core intention: ensuring that the shift towards a greener economy does not leave behind people who already face systemic barriers to participation.

What Is HARMONI and Why Does It Matter?

West Manggarai is home to Labuan Bajo, the gateway to Komodo National Park, and is designated by Indonesia’s national planning body as a priority location for climate-resilient development. Yet for many residents, especially women who head their households, people with disabilities, and families living in poverty, the promise of a greener and more prosperous future has often felt out of reach. Stigma, lack of accessibility, geographic isolation, and limited access to markets and financing have kept these communities on the margins of economic life.

HARMONI was designed to address this directly. Rather than delivering aid, the program invested in people’s existing knowledge, skills, and business ideas, while working alongside local institutions to make village economic life more inclusive.

The program brought together three partners: ASB S-SEA, the Persatuan Penyandang Disabilitas (PPD) Manggarai Barat (West Manggarai Disability Association), and the Perkumpulan Rumah Pekerti Inklusi (Rumah Pekerti Inclusion Association). Both local partners are led by and serve communities in West Manggarai. PPD Manggarai Barat is an organisation of people with disabilities, with nearly 100 members who live across the regency and include people with vision disabilities, people with physical disabilities, and deaf people. Rumah Pekerti is an inclusion-focused organisation working on gender equality and disability inclusion in community development.

Crucially, PPD and Rumah Pekerti were not simply invited in to deliver sessions. They co-designed the program from the outset, facilitated activities in the villages, and evaluated progress alongside ASB. This reflects an approach that centres local leadership rather than treating outside expertise as the default.

Who Was Involved?

The program reached approximately 389 people in total. This included:

• 200 community members who became program participants, drawn from marginalized groups in both villages. Among them were people with disabilities, women who head their households, elderly people, and families living in poverty.
• 21 Sobat HARMONI, or HARMONI Friends, who were selected from each village to serve as local facilitators. This group included young people, village officials, and people with disabilities. They were trained to lead activities in their own communities and continue the work beyond the program period.
• 363 people at the village level who received training in GEDSI (Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion) principles and green entrepreneurship.
• 65 representatives from local and regional government, including from the District Planning Agency (BAPPEDA), the Department of Labour and Cooperatives, the Department of Health, and the Social Affairs Office.
• 78 business group members and small enterprise operators from both villages.
• 21 external stakeholders, including local investors, cooperatives, development partners, and corporate social responsibility representatives.

The program also involved village governments, community leaders, and religious figures in both Repi and Warloka Pesisir.

What Did the Program Do?

Step 1: Listening First

Before anything else, the HARMONI team made sure it understood the actual conditions, needs, and interests of the people the program intended to serve. In late December 2025, the team held introductory community events in both villages and formed village survey teams made up of young people and village officials.

These survey teams were trained by ASB, PPD, and Rumah Pekerti in how to conduct respectful, consent-based interviews. They then visited community members directly to map out business interests, economic circumstances, disability status, and basic needs.

After the surveys, the team held review sessions in both villages to go through what had been learned. In Repi, geographic distance and terrain had made some households harder to reach. In Warloka Pesisir, language differences posed a challenge, as many residents primarily speak Bima, Bajo, or Bugis rather than Indonesian. These findings shaped how the program was delivered.

From this process, the team built profiles of 200 community members whose business ideas and skills formed the foundation for the next stages of the program.

Step 2: Building Local Facilitation Capacity

Because the program ran for only six months, the HARMONI team recognised from the start that lasting change would require community members to carry the work forward themselves. This led to the formation of the Sobat HARMONI groups, with 11 facilitators in Repi and 10 in Warloka Pesisir.

These facilitators came from different backgrounds: young graduates, village staff, and people with disabilities. They received training in how to facilitate activities with their neighbours and community members in ways that were accessible and inclusive.

Step 3: Understanding Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion

A three-day GEDSI training was held in February 2026 at Hotel Green Prundi in Labuan Bajo. This brought together 21 Sobat HARMONI from both villages, representatives from PPD and Rumah Pekerti, and delegates from government agencies. The training was designed to give everyone involved a shared understanding of what it means to apply principles of gender equality, disability inclusion, and social inclusion in practice, particularly in the context of green economic development.

Alongside this, the team developed a GEDSI Toolkit: a practical guide that village business groups and local governments could use to assess how inclusive their operations and decisions are. The toolkit was developed collaboratively and tested in both villages. Business groups, government representatives, and community members all participated in piloting and refining it.

After the Labuan Bajo training, the Sobat HARMONI took the lead in delivering GEDSI sessions to their own communities. In both villages, they facilitated multiple sessions, reaching women, men, people with disabilities, elderly people, and local business operators. Having trusted community members lead these sessions made the content more accessible and more meaningful.

GEDSI training was also delivered to village governments and community institutions in both Repi and Warloka Pesisir. This aimed to ensure that the principles being discussed at the community level would also influence how village policies and systems operated.

Step 4: Building Green Entrepreneurship Skills

In April 2026, the HARMONI team facilitated three-day green entrepreneurship training workshops in each village. These sessions brought together people with disabilities, women-headed households, and small business operators from existing village groups, including the PPTPI farmer group in Repi, the Dawis Jompa weaving enterprise, the UMKM Kameku cashew processing group, the Pokdarwis ecotourism group, and in Warloka Pesisir, groups working in seafood processing, waste management, and mangrove conservation.

The training covered business registration and product health standards, occupational health and safety, marketing strategy, inclusive green economy concepts, production waste management, making organic fertiliser and bio-pesticides, and developing business proposals. Experts from the Department of Health and the Department of Labour and Cooperatives contributed as resource persons.

By the end of the workshops, participants had drafted their own business proposals. These were not just documents: they were the foundation for the next stage of the program.

Also in April, a practical training in eco-friendly horticulture was delivered by PPTPI, Repi’s farmer-trainer group. Participants learned how to cultivate crops using low-chemical and organic methods, made organic fertiliser, and practised producing photosynthetic bacteria as a soil amendment. This training was held in both Repi and Warloka Pesisir.

Step 5: Connecting with Markets and Finance

In January 2026, the HARMONI team held a focus group discussion at BAPPEDA’s meeting room in Labuan Bajo, where representatives from both villages, local government offices, banks, cooperatives, and relevant agencies came together to map the local economic ecosystem. The goal was to identify which institutions and actors could realistically support village businesses to grow, access finance, and reach markets.

This mapping helped the program make real connections, not just theoretical ones. Village business groups were introduced to potential sources of support including village cooperatives, CSR programmes, government schemes, and market promotion events such as local trade fairs and festivals.

On 24 April 2026, the HARMONI team facilitated a multi-stakeholder climate financing workshop at La Prima Hotel in Labuan Bajo. Village business groups from Repi and Warloka Pesisir presented their proposals to an audience of government bodies including BAPPEDA, BPOLBF, the Department of Labour and Cooperatives, and PLUT, as well as IWAPI (the Indonesian Women Entrepreneurs Association) and BSI Maslahat. This was a significant moment: community members who had been excluded from formal economic systems were presenting investment-ready proposals to decision-makers.

Step 6: Learning Across Communities

On 21 to 23 April 2026, HARMONI hosted a cross-learning forum in Labuan Bajo, bringing together ASB partners from across Indonesia, including Sikola Mombine from Palu, Paluma, Jemari Sakato, and the Mentawai Disability Forum. Participants shared experiences and learnings in applying GEDSI principles to green economic development.

This forum also included a mangrove planting activity in Warloka Pesisir, led by SEE MANGO, the local mangrove conservation group. The activity brought together disability organisations, Sobat HARMONI, and visiting partners in a shared commitment to environmental stewardship.

Step 7: A Multisectoral Dialogue and Program Closing

On 29 April 2026, the HARMONI program concluded with a multisectoral dialogue at Zasgo Hotel in Labuan Bajo. The event brought together village governments, government agencies, civil society, and community members to share lessons from the GEDSI Checklist process and mark the end of the program. PPD Manggarai Barat, Rumah Pekerti, and the governments of Repi and Warloka Pesisir each received certificates of recognition.

What Did the Program Achieve?

Over six months, the HARMONI program produced concrete results across both villages and at the district level:

• A database and profile of 200 community members’ business interests and economic situations, which can serve as the foundation for follow-up programming.
• 21 trained Sobat HARMONI village facilitators who have the knowledge and confidence to continue supporting their communities in applying GEDSI principles after the program ended.
• 363 people trained in GEDSI and green entrepreneurship at the village level, including village government representatives, business group members, and community members who face systemic barriers to economic participation.
• A GEDSI Toolkit that village business groups and local governments can use independently to assess and strengthen the inclusiveness of their activities.
• Business proposals developed by multiple village groups, pitched directly to investors, government bodies, and financial institutions.
• Connections established between village enterprises and at least two local financing and market opportunities.
• Integration of GEDSI principles into the standard operating procedures of participating village business groups.
• A cross-village and cross-partner learning forum attended by over 100 participants.
• A synchronised annual work plan between the HARMONI program and the West Manggarai District development plan, agreed upon with representation from village, provincial, and national levels.

What Partners Said

For PPD Manggarai Barat, the program meant far more than attending activities. As they reflected in their program report:

“HARMONI represents hope. Hope that has long lived in the hearts of women who head their households, people with disabilities, and marginalised communities across West Manggarai. ASB’s arrival with the HARMONI program, especially through partnership with local organisations like PPD and Rumah Pekerti, has rekindled that hope. For us, this program helped convey many things, especially motivation, and it has lit a flame of hope for people with disabilities in the village.”

Daniel Klementino, a member with vision disability of PPD Manggarai Barat, facilitated the program’s launch event in December 2025 at La Prima Hotel in Labuan Bajo. Martinus Ebar, PPD’s chairperson, facilitated social analysis sessions in Repi. Louis Helmus Muku presented at the cross-learning forum. Their involvement as facilitators and leaders, not just as participants, was one of the program’s defining features.

PPD also reflected on the value of the GEDSI Toolkit for their own future work: “This tool is very useful going forward because it allows us to assess how far a group has applied inclusive principles. This guide is important for PPD Mabar’s future programmes.”

Rumah Pekerti highlighted the importance of local knowledge and participatory processes: “The HARMONI program gave us the space to take a more active role in facilitating activities related to waste management and green enterprise. People with disabilities, including deaf community members, were involved in practical production activities, which showed concretely that an inclusive approach can be put into practice in community economic life.”

Rumah Pekerti also offered honest reflection on where the program faced limits: the six-month timeframe was short for the scope of change being attempted, and communication structures between partners needed more deliberate design from the start. These are learnings the organisations are carrying forward.

What Made HARMONI Different?

Several features set this program apart from more conventional approaches:

• People with disabilities were partners, not just participants. PPD Manggarai Barat was involved at every stage, from designing the survey, to facilitating village sessions, to presenting at district-level forums. People with disabilities co-led a program that centred their inclusion.
• The program worked with what was already there. Rather than creating new groups from scratch, HARMONI worked with existing village enterprises, farmer groups, cooperatives, and business associations, helping them become more inclusive and sustainable.
• Local facilitators carried the program. The Sobat HARMONI model meant that community members with knowledge of local language, culture, and context led activities in their own villages. In Warloka Pesisir, where residents speak Bima, Bajo, and Bugis, this was essential.
• A sign language interpreter was included. Rumah Pekerti ensured that a sign language interpreter was present for sessions involving deaf community members, making the program accessible rather than assuming everyone communicates in the same way.
• The GEDSI Toolkit was built by and with communities. The checklist was not handed down as an external document. It was co-designed, tested, and refined through actual use in Repi and Warloka Pesisir, which means it reflects local realities.

Looking Ahead

The HARMONI program ran for six months, but its intent was always to plant seeds that would grow beyond the program’s timeline. The Sobat HARMONI facilitators remain in their villages. The business proposals are in the hands of community members. The GEDSI Toolkit is in use. Connections to local government and financing institutions have been established.

Both PPD Manggarai Barat and Rumah Pekerti have built capacity and confidence through this experience. PPD in particular expressed hope that the program would continue: “We hope this program will go on in the days ahead.”

For ASB, the HARMONI program is evidence that inclusive development in the context of climate action is not only possible but necessary. When people with disabilities, women who head their households, and others who are pushed to the margins of economic life are given real tools, real support, and real leadership roles, they do not simply participate. They lead.

Disclaimer: The HARMONI program was implemented by ASB S-SEA in partnership with PPD Manggarai Barat and Rumah Pekerti Inklusi, with funding from KINETIK (Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Climate, Renewable Energy, and Infrastructure). The program ran from December 2025 to April 2026 in Desa Repi and Desa Persiapan Warloka Pesisir, West Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.