Indonesia

The resilience of women helps communities stay together in times of crisis because they shield their children and family from hardships and have the will to survive. Irine Hiraswari Gayatri from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said that women were important in peace-building because women were able to create connections between conflicting groups. To protect women, the government adopted United Nation resolution 1325 on women, security and peace and has been drafting a National Action Plan to implement the resolution.

Amen's organizaion advocating gender equality was launched in Jakarta on March 17, 2011, giving women an unlikely ally in the battle against male dominance. The New Men Alliance (LLB) aims to promote awareness of women's rights among Indonesian men, according to the group's chariman, Nurhasyim. The group had around 50 members from Jakarta, Aceh and East Nusa Tenggara. The LLB would advance its cause by using social media, including Facebook and Twitter and their Web site, lakilakibaru.wordpress.com. 

There are 100 women for every 103 men among West Java’s 43 million people, the biggest province in the country. The figure may seem equal, but discrimination against women is still out there. “Women are still barely represented in politics, at 12.5 percent in the West Java Legislative Council,” Titik said after a recent gender equality discussion with West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan. With the low representation, the political process of pushing for gender equality within the budget will be a big issue, she added.

Political parties in Indonesia have to involve more women in politics, and not just encourage their appearance only during campaigns, a former deputy speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly says. Mooryati Soedibyo, a businesswoman who was politically active during 2004-2009, said parties had to better prepare women candidates.

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