Minister of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA), Bintang Puspayoga, made the remarks at the G20 MCWE meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Wednesday.
"We believe that global cooperation and strong commitment, especially during the COVID-19 recovery period, can promote gender equality and empower women in all development sectors," she said.
The MCWE is a part of G20 events and is focusing on three main topics: the “Economic Aspects of Post-COVID-19 Care: Missed Opportunities in the Labor Market”; “Closing the Digital Gender Gap: Women’s Participation in the Digital Economy and Future Work”; and “Women’s Entrepreneurship: Accelerating Equality and Accelerating Recovery.” The conference is taking place from August 24 to 25, 2022.
The push to promote gender equality and empower women in all development sectors is in line with Indonesia's Presidency of the G20, Puspayoga emphasized.
“For the G20 MCWE, we chose the theme ‘Recover Together, Recover Stronger to Overcome the Gender Gap,’” she said.
The minister expressed the hope that the conference will serve as a forum for the sharing of global ideas and best practices on issues surrounding gender equality and women's empowerment.
She said she believes that delegates attending the conference will produce recommendations that will be brought up at the meeting of the G20 leaders.
"This way we can ensure gender bias and women's empowerment are integrated into the commitments of the G20 leaders," she explained.
Meanwhile, deputy for gender equality at the PPPA Ministry as well as the general chair of the 2022 G20 MCWE, Lenny Rosalin, said the three major topics covered by the conference are considered important because of the impact of the pandemic on women, including an increase in unemployment and poverty.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an imbalance in the division of unpaid care work that has afflicted women, with their share reaching 61 percent compared to men, Rosalin informed. Moreover, the burden of household chores has also fallen on women.
"We also hope this conference will be able to raise greater attention to groups of women who manage micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs)," she added.
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Translator: Zubi Mahrofi, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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