VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Bintang Puspayoga (ANTARA/HO/rst) - 

Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Bintang Puspayoga has urged women state civil servants (ASN) to support and inspire one another to have equal access in order to build a better career in institutions.

"Women are important for this nation, as they have the perseverance, toughness, and patience needed to pursue their career and encourage their success to become good leaders," Puspayoga noted in a press release here Saturday.

The minister pointed to extraordinary progress made in women's empowerment. However, women had yet to fully achieve equality.

Based on data from the Indonesian Civil Servants Statistics Book on June 2021, of the four million ASN in Indonesia, 53 percent are women. However, the number of women occupying Middle High Leadership Positions (JPT) is still far behind the number of their male counterparts, with 93 women as compared to 474 men holding those positions.

"The data shows an absence of equal representation of female ASN to occupy high-level positions. This problem is not caused by their lower quality but by unequal accessibility. To this end, women must unite and become a driving force to realize gender mainstreaming in daily life," Puspayoga remarked.

These efforts can be made starting from simple things, such as reminding and educating parties that demean women, proving that women are able and willing to learn how to do a job, as well as reporting and overseeing cases of abuse or violence on women, she emphasized.

"If we make these various efforts consistently, then there will be a mindset change within each institution to empower women. Wherever women want to stand, they can certainly achieve it. There is nothing impossible for women to achieve," she noted//ANT