Home

Sarah supports project teams deliver strategic and practical benefits for women and other from socially disadvantaged groups

Sarah Hewat interviewing women from an earthquake affected region in Central Sulawesi (Indonesia) about their gender and social inclusion aspirations for rebuilding village infrastructure

“I love listening to under-represented people and integrating their needs and aspirations into projects”

Leveling the playing field

To live well requires equal access to spaces, services and opportunities.

Dr Sarah Hewat provides practical Gender/ GESI/ GEDSI advisory services across the project cycle.

Her services will ensure that opportunities from your project will reach and empower women and other underrepresented or disadvantaged individuals. This may includes people living with disabilities, indigenous people, children and the elderly, and ethnic and sexual minorities.

She has proven experience helping clients with:

  • Designing and delivering gender/GESI/GEDSI-focused projects for positive economic, health, sanitation, governance and other outcomes
  • providing a critical equity and inclusion lens to meet gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GESI/GEDSI) specific targets.
Sarah Hewat discussing gender and socially inclusive design for rebuilding projects in the city of Palu, Indonesia. With staff from the Office of Womens’ Empowerment and Child Protection / Dinas Pemberdayaan Perempuan and Perlindungan Anak / DP3A
Sarah Hewat interviewing Indonesian waste pickers at a landfill site in Central Sulawesi about gender safety, sanitation and livelihood challenges.

Sarah has addressed complex social challenges in Indonesia and PNG across the development spectrum – from donors, firms, universities, multilateral organizations (development banks and UN agencies) to village-based and international NGOS.

A passion for gender and social inclusion in Indonesia

Sarah’s background in anthropology and psychology partly explains her technical capacity for culturally meaningful and person-centered solutions. Her flair for responding to the actual needs and aspirations of target communities largely comes from years of living and working with communities in remote parts of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

This includes over two years of residential fieldwork in West Papua, Indonesia, for her doctoral dissertation on sexual health and moral decision making among young indigenous women.

Her journey began as a development volunteer in the highlands of Papua…

Sarah Hewat discussing health issues in a sweet potato garden, with Dani women and children, Wamena, Indonesia

“Sarah is highly skilled at extracting and conveying insights about vulnerable groups’ realities. She helps people from other disciplines, including managers, to understand practical things that can be done to make projects more inclusive and impactful”

Dr Lucy Mitchell
Social Safeguards Specialist
World Bank, Indonesia Country Office

“Dr Hewat is a reliable and versatile gender expert. Her clear writing, sharp data analysis and insights about Indonesian culture helped my team develop a course of action to address gender-based violence”

Risya Kori
Gender Equality National Programme Officer UNFPA, Indonesia Country Office

“I appreciate the time Dr Hewat took to discuss issues and share insights with the teams in Palu and Mataram. She is friendly and flexible and has technical mastery of GEDSI. I look forward to collaborating with Dr Hewat in the future”

Budhi Ulaen
Project Manager, Programme for Earthquake and Tsunami Infrastructure Reconstruction Assistance (PETRA) UNDP, Indonesia Country Office


Sarah is available for short-term assignments: