Jakarta (ANTARA) - Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Bintang Puspayoga urged ministries and institutions, regional governments, and community organizations to formulate and execute policies to empower and protect women by involving and hearing women's opinions.

"The quality of development planning should be further improved," the minister said in a statement, Monday (April 17).

"This is done including by improving the quality of women's participation in planning, specifically their access to development policies, programs, and activities and whether they feel the benefit of development," she said.

The minister deemed that the current challenge in empowering women and protecting children is not just knowing the problems in society but also the accuracy of programs from ministries and institutions, regional governments, and community organizations.

"We cannot have something that we deem to be good when it is actually not," the minister pointed out.

"By hearing women's voices, the government will then be able to create development planning that matches the public need, is accurate, and on time," she said.

In general, the minister considered that development has been implemented well and broadly, but it has not resolved the gap issue, in this case, the gender gap, which underlies the underdevelopment of women and children.

"Women can participate in controlling and monitoring the course of programs expected to be able to provide benefit in handling the gender gap in Indonesia, thus realizing that no one is left behind in the development mandate," Puspayoga remarked.

In the statement, Puspayoga also underlined the importance of creating safe and comfortable Eid al-Fitr Homecoming conditions for women, children, elderly, and people with disabilities.

Related news: Minister lauds PT KAI's services for women, children during homecoming

Related news: Homecoming travel could increase miscarriage risk: BKKBN


Translator: Anita Permata D, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Tia Mutiasari
Copyright © ANTARA 2023