VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia's G20 Presidency will support women's empowerment, especially in the fields of digital literacy and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), as well as ultra micro-enterprise, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics has said.

As chair of the G20, Indonesia has held the G20 Women's Empowerment Kickoff Meeting initiated by Women20 and G20 Empower, according to a press statement issued by the ministry on Thursday.

At the meeting, Indonesia G20 Presidency's Empower Working Group and the W20 Engagement Group brought up the priority issue of support for MSMEs and building digital skills among women.

The Empower Working Group voiced support for women's equality under the second priority issue, namely "women in SMEs as drivers of economic growth: context, connect, and change", and third priority issue “building a future-ready economy by increasing the involvement of women in the economy and workforce through upskilling and digital enablement”, it added.

Meanwhile, the W20 emphasized economic inclusivity through support for women in the second priority issue: “achieving economic inclusion by supporting MSMEs owned and managed by women”.

The Ministry of Communication and Informatics said it will ensure the functioning of the Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) and that the digital transformation envisaged by the working group and the engagement group takes place smoothly.

The ministry further said it welcomes and encourages mainstreaming of women in digital economic activities, bolstering inclusivity, and empowering digital capability—issues that have been brought up by the W20 and Empower Working Group.

The ministry informed that it is also striving for more inclusive participation of vulnerable groups within the digital capability program through DEWG's second priority issue that pushes increasing digital skills and digital literacy.

The document will be a reference point for G20 to encourage digital participation among vulnerable groups and to realize, in a collective effort, a digital economy that would include every element of society, the ministry said.

In addition, the document is expected to identify and provide concrete recommendations on the digital gap experienced by vulnerable groups, it added.

Examples of such vulnerable groups include women and children, indigenous communities, digital migrants, and MSMEs affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry said.

The ministry further said it has provided digital training this year to more than 12.5 million people, 52 percent of whom were women.

The ministry informed that it has also launched the Digital Entrepreneurship Academy, whose participants include housewives, to develop digital-based MSMEs. (Antaranews)