IO, Jakarta – the Speaker of the house (DPR), Puan Maharani, spoke about the 2020 International Women’s Day which was celebrated on March 8, 2020. According to her, the country could not be prosperous and well-developed if women were left behind. Therefore, women’s empowerment must continue to be a joint work agenda for all parties, through mutual cooperation of the Government, the community, the business world, and other stakeholders.
Quoting the statement of the first President of the Republic of Indonesia, Sukarno, Puan described the roles of men and women as two wings of a bird. If each wing is as strong, then the bird flies to the highest peak. If one of its wings is broken, then the bird cannot fly. “I believe that the essence of building gender equality and justice, is not by separating who dominates and who is dominated. But rather to find a corridor to share fairly in all life activities without differentiating their gender. This is the spirit that we must instill together in building a world where women and men are equal in dignity, progress and prosperity,” Puan explained.
Puan added, now women have been active and take various strategic roles in every development activity in all fields: economic, social, environment, sports, science, research, and others. “I always remind all parties to include women in the entire development process. But women’s participation is not just an affirmative policy, but rather an awareness of respect for human dignity,” she said.
According to her, without an awareness of her dignity and dignity as human beings, women will continue to face various obstacles that can come from social, cultural, economic, and political life. For this reason, Puan assessed that education, outreach, advocacy and facilitating various programs are still needed in order to consistently strengthen the role of women. “As the head of the Parliament, I emphasize several agendas that need our common attention in efforts to improve gender equality, including improving women’s understanding and perspectives that women can play a role in various sectors,” said the former Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture.
Furthermore, by increasing public understanding of the important role of women in development, strengthening national regulations to ensure the role of women. And also, building cooperation between various groups and countries to create a friendly environment for the role of women. The PDI-P politician also advised, to face future challenges women must increase their capacity and quality, and must be increasingly able to organize, and produce inspiring women’s leadership. “I believe, a country cannot be prosperous and developed if the women are left behind,” she concluded. (Dan)