Thousands of celebrated woman figures will gather in the 35th General Assembly of the International Council of Women, the women organization directly affiliated with the United Nations, as well as the National Gathering of A Thousand Women Organization in Indonesia, scheduled to be held in Grand Inna Hotel in Malioboro, Yogyakarta from September 12 to 20.
The event will begin with the International Council of Women or ICW Board of Director Meeting from September 11 to 12, followed by the Opening of the 35th ICW General Assembly on September 13, National Gathering of A Thousand Women Organization in Indonesia from September 13 to 14, and the plenary sessions of the General Assembly will take place from September 14 to 18.
Participants will also be visiting the Village Economic Hall, known as the Balkondes, from 18 to 19 of September, located around the Borobudur temple area in Magelang, Central Java, while the ICW New BOD Meeting will take place on September 20.
The event is held by the ICW and the Indonesian Women Congress or Kowani, in cooperation with the Ministry of State Owned Enterprises, in which 35 state owned companies are involved in supporting the event, including Antara News Agency.
President Joko Widodo is scheduled to be featured in the event as well.
The 2018 ICW General Assembly and the National Gathering provide a great momentum for Indonesian women to voice their aspirations and ideas.
The 35th ICW General Assembly will bear the theme `Transforming Society Through Women Empowerment` and will be opened by President of the Council Junsook Kim on September 13.
Iranian Vice President for Family and Women`s Affair Massoumeh Ebtekar, who visited Indonesia back in July, will `return` in the 2018 ICW GA through a video broadcast, which will then be followed by two discussion panels on the 130th anniversary of the ICW, as well as workshops that divide participants into five groups.
The first discussion panel will bear the theme `Empower a Woman, Transform a Society` and feature Minister of State Owned Enterprises Rini Soemarno as keynote speaker, and a number of other sources, including academic from the Malaysian National University Professor Emeritus Dr Sharifah Hapsah binti Syed Hasan Shahabudin on Raising Economic Capacity of Women.
Special Advisor to the Japanese Prime Minister Professor Akiko Yamanaka and Vice Editor In Chief of National Media, Metro TV, Kania Sutisnawinata, will speak in the topic of the Media`s Role for the Achievement of Gender Equality, featuring Special Staff to Minister of State Owned Enterprises Judith J Dipodiputro as moderator.
The second panel discussion is themed `Transforming Society Through Equal Human Rights`. It will feature Director of Social Research Center from India, Dr. Ranjana Kumari, Representative of the ICW for the United Nations Dr Mohinder Watson, and founder of the United States National Council of Women Sorosh Roshan as speakers, and Commissioner of the National Women Commission Magdalena Sitorus as moderator.
Meanwhile, the workshop part will divide participants into five groups. Speakers in this session include Russian Ambassador to Indonesian Lyudmila Vorobieve, Ambassador of Fiji to Indonesia Seleima Dikawakawayali Veisamasama, Ambassador of Afghanistan to Indonesia Roya Rahmani, Ambassador of Republic of Panama to Indonesia Deborah Ho Ng de Cogley, the ICW`s Secretary General from Bangladesh Maleka Banu; with Nijole Steponkute from Lithuania, Mabataung Patricia Mokhathali from Lesotho, and the ICW`s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Jeanne Kim as facilitators.
The National Gathering of A Thousand Women Organization in Indonesia will also be carried out, as it is scheduled to be opened by Minister of State Owned Enterprises Rini Soemarno on September 13.
The National Gathering will have two sessions, both of which feature Indonesian acclaimed women figures involved in the government and state owned companies.
The discussions on the first day will bear the theme `Building the Frontier, Disadvantaged and Outermost Regions, and Including the Poorest and Marginal Communities as Parameters for Successful Development` and will be separated into two sessions.
The first session, `Access to Energy and Basic Infrastructure as a Parameter of Leading, Disadvantaged and Outermost Regional Development`, will bring Director General of Housing Financing of the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing Lana Wijayanti, Managing Director of PT Pertamina Nicke Widyawati, who seek to retain the security of the single price on energy and fuel and Syofvi Felienty Roekman who is Corporate Planning Director of PT PLN and will speak on electrification of the village community.
There will also be Managing Director of PT ASDP Ira Puspadewi who will speak regarding the interconnectivity of the maritime toll road, and Devy Suradji, Director of Marketing and Services of PT Angkasa Pura I, who will bring her expertise regarding air interconnectivity; and President Commissioner of PT Telkom Indonesia Hendri Saparini will be present as moderator.
The second session, `Access to Capital and Banking as the Foundation of Family Economic Resilience`, will be moderated by Consumer Director of PT Bank BRI Handayani, and will present a number of speakers.
Among them are Director General of Domestic Trade Tjahya Widayanti, and Director of Institutional Relations of PT Bank Mandiri Alexandra Askandar, who will speak on Banking Products and Services with Renewable Innovations.
The other speakers are PT PNM Business Director I Abianti Riani who will speak on Capital Products and Services; PT Pegadaian`s Director of Finance and Strategic Planning Ninis Kesuma Adriani; PT Telkom Indonesia Consumer Services Director Siti Choirina who will talk about Technology Creativity in Economic Resilience; and PT Jasa Raharja`s Director of Human Resources and General Affairs Dewi Aryanu Suzana who will discuss issues concerning Insuring Long Term Work Insurance.
President Jokowi`s Presence
It was mentioned in the schedule released by the Kowani, that the President will deliver his remarks on September 14.
Minister of State Owned Enterprises Rini Soemarno, President of the ICW Junsook Kim and Chairwoman of the Kowani Giwo Rubianto Wiyogo will also deliver their reports.
After President Jokowi`s remarks, there is an opening ceremony scheduled, in which the event will officially begin.
The National Gathering of A Thousand Women Organization in Indonesia will then continue, with further discussions divided into two sessions.
???? The first session themed `The Role ofnesian Women as the Mother of the True Nation in Orderto Materialize Isia Jaya` will feature a variety of speakers, including Chairperson of the Kowani Giwo Rubianto Wiyogo, who will speak on 90 Years of Indonesian Women`s Struggle as the Mother of the True Nation in the Framework of Creating Indonesia Jaya.
During the session that will be moderated by member of the Kowani Expert Team Hetifah Sjaifudin, Kowani`s Expert Team Member Sjamsiah Ahmad will speak on the Role of Indonesian Women in Regional and International Cooperation; East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa will talk about Strengthening Regional Financial Governance in Accessing Development Funding Sources, and Founder of Wahid Institute Yenni Wahid will talk about Women and the Ideology of the Nation.
The second session will be entitled `The Role of Indonesian Women in Achieving SDG`s Targets` with Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya as speaker about the Green Report Card in Overcoming Yearly Chronic; Chairperson of the Board of Commissioners, Sri Adiningsih, about the role of women in the determination of policies and the direction of the state as the basis for equality and justice; Minister of Health Nila F Moeloek about the Healthy Indonesia Program; Deputy of Financial Services Business from the Ministry of State Owned Enterprises Gatot Trihargo; with the Director General of Waste Management from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry as moderator.
The result documents from the National Gathering will also be delivered on the day, and on the next days forward, there will be various discussions held as apart of the 35th ICW General Assembly.
The 35th General Assembly of the International Council of Women also marks the 130th year of the ICW, founded in Washington DC, USA on March 25 1888. The mission of the Council include standing up for women`s rights, as it is also a part of the United Nations that has shown its respect towards women empowerment.
Kowani has been a part of the ICW since 1972 and has always been active in participating in events held by the ICW or UN Women, in the bid to empower women and protect children, through various activities.
An exhibition, themed `The People`s Market of Nusantara` will also enliven the 35th ICW General Assembly and the National Gathering of Indonesian Women, showcasing various fashion products, traditional garments, fashion accessories, jewelry, handicrafts, and packaged foods, produced by various small and medium businesses (SMEs), assisted by state owned companies.
The data from the Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs in 2015 showed that there are 13,645 female cooperatives in Indonesia and around 60 percent of the 52 million MSMEs in the country are run by women.
Meanwhile, the Asia Foundation data reveal that around 23 percent of entrepreneurs in Asia are women and there is an eight percent growth each year.
The arts and crafts products that will be displayed are surely the best ones in the market, as they have an authentic Indonesian product identity, a variety of designs, sizes and colors, in accordance with export quality, certified for wood and leather handicraft products, and have sufficient stock.
Exhibition visitors can order the desired product online and after payment is made, the goods will be delivered, a system known as O2O (online to offline).
State Owned Enterprises, or BUMN, Creative House (RKB) provides various facilities for every SME actor and helps digitize business products and processes in place of online digitalization and e-commerce, by guiding businesses on how to list their products on websites such as Blanja.com, Search Engine Optimizations and promotion through social media .
The RKB is a forum for collaborative steps for n forming the digital economy ecosystem, through coaching for SMEs to improve the capacity and capability.
On their visit to the Balkondes, participants can also witness the economic life at the village level.
The 20 BUMN owned Balkondes around Borobudur Temple tourist attractions are Balkondes Bigaran (Temple Tourism Park), Balkondes Borobudur (Temple Tourism Park), Balkondes Bumiharjo (Housing Development), Balkondes Candirejo (Semen Indonesia), Balkondes Giripurno (Temple Tourism Park), and Balkondes Giritengah (Jasa Raharja).
There are also the Kembanglimus (Patra Jasa), Balkondes Karanganyar (Bank BTN), Balkondes Karangrejo (PGN), Balkondes Kebonsari (Hutama Karya), Balkondes Kenalan (Bank Mandiri), Balkondes Majaksingi Singkober Village (Jasa Marga), and Balkondes `The Gade Village in Ngargogondo` (Pegadaian).
Furthermore, there are the Balkondes Ngadiharjo (PLN), Balkondes Sambeng (Patra Jasa), Balkondes Duta Menor Tanjungsari Village (BRI Bank), Balkondes Tegalarum (Angkasa Pura II), Balkondes Tuksongo (Telkom), Balkondes Wanurejo (Bank BNI), and Balkondes Wringinputih (Pertamina).
It is time for the women`s voices to be heard, understood, and perceived as an effort to participate in the practice of life in society, nation and state.
Women are not only the Mother of Nations, but are also pillars of the state in defending the unity State of the Republic of Indonesia, or NKRI.
May women continue to advance women in the national, international and global arena.
Reporting by Budi Setiawanto
Editing by Aria Cindyara/Rahmad Nasution
Reporter: Budi Setiawanto/Aria Cindyara
Editor: Gusti Nur Cahya Aryani
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
