Topic: 2024-Gender Equality in Rural Areas
Country: Indonesia
Delegate Name: Khushi Patel
UN Women
Gender Equality in Rural Areas
Indonesia
Portage Central High School
In the rural area of Indonesia, Indonesian women face immense challenges related to gender equality. There is a central belief/thought process in which men are viewed in a higher position as opposed to women. This belief leads Indonesian women mainly to play a role in their community as caretakers for their families while managing agriculture and crafting. They aren’t taken into account for education or job prosperity. In a broader view, they are imminently restricted economically. Indonesia has realized how negative this situation is for the many capable women of their country and is looking for more policy changes to ensure gender equality and economic empowerment for overall life improvement for women.
One of Indonesia’s key steps in advancing gender equality, particularly in rural areas, is the collaboration between the government, civil society organizations, academia, the media, and the private sector, with UN Women. Together they have worked to improve women’s access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities. Indonesia has joined international agreements like the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), which guide national efforts to promote gender equality. The Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection (MoWECP) leads the preparation of national reports on gender equality, working with other ministries, and subnational governments like the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (MoLHR), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), and the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and key stakeholders, like the private sector, business communities, academic institutions, and the media. The results from this have been the development of policies and regulations that have been crucial in advancing the rights of women, particularly in rural areas. The BPfA is further supported by Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting (PPRG) policies at national and subnational levels that are crucial for ensuring that public services and protections specifically target gender equality. Such affirmative policies focus on and further ensure that women in rural areas have access to necessary accommodations like education and healthcare, addressing the specific barriers they face in remote areas. UN Women also works with all ranges of stakeholders to ensure that these policies are implemented in rural areas. Through these collaborative efforts, Indonesia is working to ensure that gender equality reaches women in rural areas, empowering them to overcome the unique challenges they face.
Indonesia encourages other countries’ ministries and organizations to support women with gender equality and empowerment through supporting policies that are suitable for their economy and with the resources they have available. This can be done by participating in policy-making decisions that help women gain rights to get an education and jobs through organizations such as UN Women where we can see women excelling due to the policies sustaining actions leading to equality and empowerment that are implemented in ways to also reach less developed areas such as rural areas.
Citations
https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/countries/indonesia
https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/stories/news/2024/04/to-promote-womens-political-representation-in-indonesia
https://data.unwomen.org/country/indonesia
https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/stories/feature-story/2024/05/indonesia-rtb-calls-for-investment-in-womens-economic-empowerment
https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2024-09/b30_report_indonesia_en.pdf
