Pain has a voice: Yosefa Alongma of Papua, a victim of violence against women, shares her sorrow during a ceremony to mark the 10th anniversary of the National Commission on Violence Against Women at the BPPT building, Jakarta on Monday. JP/Wendra Ajistyatama
The President said he hopes for more women in the Cabinet, adding that they were often “more reliable”.
“We now have five women out of 34 ministers in the Cabinet. The ratio is of course still far from enough, so in the future I hope there will be six, seven… and even 10 female ministers; then we will consider it enough,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Monday.
For the first time, state oil company Pertamina is headed by a woman, Karen Agustiawan, “and now many ambassadors and business leaders are women,” he added, addressing the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the National Commission on Violence against Women.
Since Sunday the Commission held a two-day event on the issue, in conjunction with the international 16 days of action against women, from Nov. 25 to Dec. 10, which is International Human Rights Day.
The President cited how women were less corrupt then men, the reason why the government is prioritizing women as recipients of its Rp 100 trillion (US$10.6 billion) soft loan program.
“We have prepared Rp 100 trillion for soft loans, and will prioritize the funds to be managed by women. Women rarely fail, don’t easily waste money, and are seldom involved in corrupt practices,” he said.
The President cited the example of the soft loan program initiated by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh where 97 percent of the funds were disbursed to women.
He added the government’s missions for the country’s women were aimed at “protecting, promoting and empowering” them.
Meanwhile, Commission chairwoman Kamala Chandrakirana urged the government to take “special measures” to support and empower female victims of violence.She also called for the revocation of regulations “bracing stigmas against and violating rights of women”.
Activists have criticized all regional regulations deemed to discriminate against women including those in the Aceh province, which is authorized to issue Islamic sharia laws.
The commission “hopes the government will build a legal system that provides justice for women and is sensitive to their problems… and that the government will improve its capacity in implementing the 1984 Law on the Ratification of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women,” Kamala said.
The anniversary was also attended by former president B. J. Habibie, who established the commission during his brief term in 1999.
Benny K. Harman, head of the House of Representatives’ Commission III, which oversees law, rights and security issues, said it would involve the women’s commission more often to ensure women’s voices were heard in the legislative process.
Among other testimonies from women, a member of the minority Ahmadiyah school of Islam in Kuningan, West Java, Uminah said tearfully that all they wanted was legal recognition of their marriages.
“We have to find authorities willing to legalize our marriages when we are not even entitled to identity cards unless we renounce our faith.”
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First Lady Ani Bambang Yudhoyono and State Women’s Empowerment Minister Linda Agum Gumelar plant a tree in Lake Situ Cikaret, Bogor on Tuesday. Participants from seven women’s organizations planted 1,000 trees around the site. (JP/Theresia Sufa)
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