Gender Equality-Based Policies Expand Role Space for Women
The implementation of gender equality-based policies in the government sector has made Kebumen Regency the winner of the 2020 Anugrah Parahita Ekapraya (APE) Award in the Main Category, along with 12 other districts/cities in Central Java.
The Regent of Kebumen, Arif Sugiyanto, stated that the award was an appreciation from the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection of the Republic of Indonesia for efforts to realize gender equality in Kebumen.
Women, said Regent Arif, should be given a wider role in the public sphere, or in various social activities.
“I have also done gender equality at the ASN level. For example, for echelon II appointments there are already five people (women), echelon III for sub-district heads there are also five people (women). Then, there are also three (women) lurahs,” he said.
The government’s efforts to support gender mainstreaming are also manifested in various policies, including Regional Regulation (Perda) Number 1 of 2015 concerning Gender Mainstreaming, Regional Regulation Number 3 of 2013 concerning Child Protection.
“There are also regional regulations on exclusive breastfeeding, regional regulations on disabilities, and smoking-free area regulations. All of this is of course in an effort to support gender equality in Kebumen by protecting women’s rights,” said the regent.
The Regent hopes that the government’s efforts and hard work in supporting gender mainstreaming will continue to be improved. That way, in the future Kebumen can win the Parahita Ekapraya (APE) award for the highest rank, namely Mentor.
“To support and realize gender equality, we also involve the community, the business world, mass organizations and the world of higher education in Kebumen. We, they, participate in providing platforms and training in terms of rewarding women,” he said.
Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Increase the Degree of Life
Three institutions that work on efforts to uphold human rights, especially women, namely the Service Procurement Forum (FPL), the BaKTI Foundation, and Komnas Perempuan, are holding the 2020 Eastern Women’s Conference (KPT), with the theme Harvesting Fruits from Multistakeholder Synergy for Equitable Development in Eastern Indonesia.
KPT 2020 will be held online, 26-27 August 2020, and will present participants from all over Indonesia. Starting from the Regional Government, DPRD, DPR, Universities, NGOs, indigenous peoples, communities and the media. KPT 2020 is supported by the MAMPU Program, the Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. The series of events can be accessed via YouTube/baktifoundation.
Quoted from https://www.fundacionmavi.org/ The Governor of South Sulawesi, Prof HM Nurdin Abdullah, said gender equality and women’s empowerment had become part of the national development plan.
“Likewise, the regional government has made gender equality and women’s empowerment a focus to improve the standard of living of women,” said Nurdin Abdullah, Wednesday, August 26, 2020.
However, several development issues related to women need more serious handling, and this requires multistakeholder synergy and cooperation. Among them are violence against women, poverty for women, and child marriage which mostly sacrifices girls, who should still be attending school.
Likewise, efforts to increase women’s participation and capacity in the public sphere must be continued. Development policies that are gender-just and have the support of multi-stakeholders can overcome the gender gap that has existed so far.
