Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Key to Achieving Millennium Development Goals
Senator Laode Ida, Mrs. Sri Kadarwati, Ms. Eka Komariah Kuncoro, from DPD-RI, and fellow members from DPR-RI Hj. Aisyah Hamid Baidlowi, Mrs. Tuti Indarsih Loekman Soetrisno and Mr. Awang Sofian Rozali, attended the 6th Asian Women Parliamentarians’ and Ministers’ Conference in Ulaanbaatar, September 2008.
Dr. La Ode Ida, and Ms. Eka Komariah Kunchoro spoke on Regional Autonomy and the Efforts to Achieve the MDGs in Indonesia.
They traced Indonesia’s democratization and decentralization reform efforts over the years and linked them to the quality of public services and the realization of social economic welfare. Education, health and social welfare are among the 31 policy areas over which authority is delegated to regional governments.
Local governments are crucial to the achievement of the MDGs because they have the authority to set agendas and allocate budgets. Local governments have shown strong efforts to achieve the MDGs. Indonesia has experienced downward trends in maternal mortality ratio and infant mortality rates since the 1980s. Gender equality remains a challenge, however. Dr. Ida and Ms Kunchoro showed that the number of women public servants in important positions is less than half of the men’s.
Other challenges include the lack of coordination between provincial and district authorities, inefficiency in the bureaucracy, corruption, cultural discrimination against women in public life and intervention of special interests in politics.
However, they believe that the MDGs can be achieved in Indonesia if the local governments can learn from best practices and be committed, consistent and people-oriented. It also depends on transparent, accountable and clean government, with supervision by the national government and active participation from the community.
Mrs. Tuti Indarsih Loekman Soetrisno, MP, another participant from Indonesia, spoke on Governance, Accountability and Sustainability of MDGs-related Efforts entitled Development Endangered If Not En-Gendered
She explained that Indonesia has mainstreamed gender in nearly all aspects of national development. She showed data that indicate near perfect balance (99%-100%) in the ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education. However, only 33.3% of women workers are now employed in non-agricultural sectors, far short of the target of 50%. Women representation in the parliament stands now at 11.3%.
Indonesia’s immunization programme has been instrumental in protecting a high percentage of children from a number of diseases. The country’s child mortality rate is 32 per 1,000 live births in 2008 and the government has instituted a Health Protection Programme for Neonatals to lower the high number of deaths in the early period after birth.
Maternal mortality rate has dropped from 450 per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 307 in 2007, but much work remains to be done to reach the target of 110 by 2015. Among the challenges is the lack of access to skilled birth attendants in some remote areas.
Together with the government, parliamentarians have made progress in amending the Health Law to include reproductive health rights, improving health insurance scheme and increase the Health National Budget.
However, there are discrepancies between laws and policies on the one hand, and their actual implementation on the other. She pointed to patriarchic tradition and gender construction as the main barriers to the acceptance of the voice of women in the public sphere. Budget allocations have also been inconsistent and not gender-sensitive. In closing, she insisted that if not en-gendered, development would be endangered.
Senator Laode Ida, Mrs. Sri Kadarwati, Ms. Eka Komariah Kuncoro, from DPD-RI, and fellow members from DPR-RI Hj. Aisyah Hamid Baidlowi, Mrs. Tuti Indarsih Loekman Soetrisno and Mr. Awang Sofian Rozali, attended the 6th Asian Women Parliamentarians’ and Ministers’ Conference in Ulaanbaatar, September 2008.
Dr. La Ode Ida, and Ms. Eka Komariah Kunchoro spoke on Regional Autonomy and the Efforts to Achieve the MDGs in Indonesia.
They traced Indonesia’s democratization and decentralization reform efforts over the years and linked them to the quality of public services and the realization of social economic welfare. Education, health and social welfare are among the 31 policy areas over which authority is delegated to regional governments.
Local governments are crucial to the achievement of the MDGs because they have the authority to set agendas and allocate budgets. Local governments have shown strong efforts to achieve the MDGs. Indonesia has experienced downward trends in maternal mortality ratio and infant mortality rates since the 1980s. Gender equality remains a challenge, however. Dr. Ida and Ms Kunchoro showed that the number of women public servants in important positions is less than half of the men’s.
Other challenges include the lack of coordination between provincial and district authorities, inefficiency in the bureaucracy, corruption, cultural discrimination against women in public life and intervention of special interests in politics.
However, they believe that the MDGs can be achieved in Indonesia if the local governments can learn from best practices and be committed, consistent and people-oriented. It also depends on transparent, accountable and clean government, with supervision by the national government and active participation from the community.
Mrs. Tuti Indarsih Loekman Soetrisno, MP, another participant from Indonesia, spoke on Governance, Accountability and Sustainability of MDGs-related Efforts entitled Development Endangered If Not En-Gendered
She explained that Indonesia has mainstreamed gender in nearly all aspects of national development. She showed data that indicate near perfect balance (99%-100%) in the ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education. However, only 33.3% of women workers are now employed in non-agricultural sectors, far short of the target of 50%. Women representation in the parliament stands now at 11.3%.
Indonesia’s immunization programme has been instrumental in protecting a high percentage of children from a number of diseases. The country’s child mortality rate is 32 per 1,000 live births in 2008 and the government has instituted a Health Protection Programme for Neonatals to lower the high number of deaths in the early period after birth.
Maternal mortality rate has dropped from 450 per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 307 in 2007, but much work remains to be done to reach the target of 110 by 2015. Among the challenges is the lack of access to skilled birth attendants in some remote areas.
Together with the government, parliamentarians have made progress in amending the Health Law to include reproductive health rights, improving health insurance scheme and increase the Health National Budget.
However, there are discrepancies between laws and policies on the one hand, and their actual implementation on the other. She pointed to patriarchic tradition and gender construction as the main barriers to the acceptance of the voice of women in the public sphere. Budget allocations have also been inconsistent and not gender-sensitive. In closing, she insisted that if not en-gendered, development would be endangered.
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