The Leadership Of The New Republic Of Indonesia Is Asked To Continue The Struggle For The Issue Of Women And Children

Minister of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA) Bintang Puspayoga. (ANTARA/HO-KemenPPPA)

JAKARTA - Minister of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA), Bintang Puspayoga, invites women and children activists throughout Indonesia to continue their commitment to fighting for the empowerment and protection of women and children to remote areas of the country.

He also emphasized the importance of continuity of the program in the midst of the new dynamics of national leadership, in this case, Prabowo Sugianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka had just been inaugurated as presidents of the Republic of Indonesia for the period 2024 to 2029.

"I express my appreciation for the commitment of fellow women and children activists who have accompanied me and the KemenPPPA ranks for the past five years. Even so, five years is a short time to solve the problems of women and children who are complex and multi-sectoral."

"Therefore, we need input and further commitment from our colleagues so that they can be entrusted to the next leadership," said Bintang Puspayoga in a webinar, as quoted by Antara.

According to him, efforts to empower women and protect children must continue to be a national priority, especially when there is a transition to government.

Over the past five years, KemenPPPA has launched various strategic programs that have succeeded in providing direct benefits to the community, such as the Women's Friendly Village and Child Care (DRPPA), which are now spread across more than 2,000 villages.

In addition, the Technical Implementation Unit for the Protection of Women and Children (UPTD PPA) has also been formed in many areas with the concept of integrated services for victims of violence, according to the mandate of Law Number 12 of 2022 concerning the Crime of Sexual Violence (TPKS).

"I feel that there is still a lot of homework in realizing women's empowerment and child protection. But we have seen good practices in various regions, even to the 3T area (stayed behind, frontier, outermost). We women must continue to work together and support each other in order to realize equality for all citizens including women, children, and other vulnerable groups," said Bintang Puspayoga.

In the field of handling child marriage, Bintang said, Indonesia has succeeded in exceeding the 2020-2024 RPJMN target by reducing the child marriage rate to 6.92 percent in 2023, far below the 8.74 percent target.

He hopes that this achievement will continue and be strengthened under the new leadership, considering that there are still challenges related to the dispensation of marriage and the practice of arrest marriage in several areas.

His party noted that success in dealing with child marriage issues exceeded the 2020-2024 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) target, which was 8.74 percent with achievements in 2023 reaching 6.92 percent.

This achievement cannot be separated from synergy and collaboration with activists, traditional leaders, and religious leaders in various regions to provide understanding to the community. Although the number of child marriages has been successfully reduced, the problem of dispensation of marriage and arrest marriage in the regions is still found, so it still needs to be guarded together to resolve it.

"I feel that there is still a lot of homework in realizing women's empowerment and child protection. But we have seen good practices in various regions, even to the 3T area (stayed behind, frontier, outermost). We women must continue to work together and support each other in order to realize equality for all citizens including women, children, and other vulnerable groups," said Bintang Puspayoga.