"The more women become village heads, I believe there will be greater advancement because villages must be child-friendly, female-friendly," he noted in a written statement received here on Friday.
The deputy minister highlighted that the involvement of village women aligns with the fifth goal of Village Sustainable Development Goals (Village SDGs), with various roles that women can take up, one of which is becoming village heads.
"Villages must provide facilities for children to grow, preschools, and an adequate environment for children to grow," the deputy minister emphasized while delivering his remarks at an event to celebrate the 63rd anniversary of Maros District, South Sulawesi.
Setiadi pointed out that village heads in Indonesia were largely men, with only about six thousand women village heads out of a total of 74,961 villages in the country.
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He expected the number of women village heads to continue to increase to support the country in achieving the goal of Golden Indonesia by 2045.
He affirmed that the participation of women is also believed to help in realizing five national priority programs: reducing extreme poverty, reducing stunting, food security, economic digitization, and the community economy.
On that occasion, the deputy minister also conveyed that Indonesia should be able to make the most of its potential in the fields of fisheries, agriculture, and tourism.
He emphasized that all government levels must tap this potential to push Indonesia to become a developed country.
He called on all parties to collaborate, so that the projection of Indonesia becoming the world's fourth-largest economy by 2045 could come true.
"Indonesia's advancement can only be realized if all villages become self-reliant. (This is) because it is impossible for Indonesia to advance if the villages are still left behind," he stressed.
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Translator: Zubi Mahrofi, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
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