Strengthening Women’s Economic Empowerment

Gender equality is one of the human rights that is being championed in the world, including Indonesia. The right to live honorably, free from fear and free to make choices. Indonesia has great potential for women to play an important role in all sectors. To benefit from this potential, the government needs to continue to promote gender equality and eliminate barriers for women to play an active and contributing role in society.

Gender equality between women and men has not been completely evenly distributed. In the 2017 World Economic Forum, gender equality in Indonesia was ranked 84th out of 144 countries in the world. There are still inequalities in the rights of women and men that need serious attention from the government and the business community. Discrimination against women still occurs and this injustice has made women’s empowerment a priority, especially in increasing women’s participation in achieving economic independence in Indonesia.

Today, December 14, 2018, the Indonesia Business Coalition for Women Empowerment (IBCWE) is just two years old. At a very young age, IBCWE is determined to continue fighting for women’s empowerment and achieving gender equality in the workforce.

As a business coalition, IBCWE members believe that increasing gender equality in the workplace and supporting women’s empowerment must be at the core of the business strategy. Companies that support gender equality are proven to be able to produce higher levels of development and performance than other companies.

This year, five IBCWE members are able to achieve EDGE certification. The five companies are PT Tira Austenite Tbk, PT Pan Brothers Tbk, PT Adis Dimension Footwear, PT Accenture Indonesia and PT Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL) Indonesia. With EDGE certification it can encourage companies to create a conducive environment for improving gender equality, such as career opportunities, additional leave rights for parents, and availability of facilities such as lactation rooms for nursing mothers.

In 2018, IBCWE received two new members, namely PT L’Oreal Indonesia and PT HM Sampoerna Tbk. At present there are five companies that are in the process of signing an agreement as IBCWE members, so that at the beginning of 2019, IBCWE members will become 16 companies. The increasing number of IBCWE membership shows that gender equality in the world of work, is no longer limited to dreams or false hopes, but has been implemented and has become a new standard in creating a healthy, conducive and balanced work environment between female and male employees.

Two years IBCWE stepped in. IBCWE has laid the groundwork to go strong and achieve future goals. Remain committed to being a proud business coalition, while achieving the goal of empowering women towards economic independence in Indonesia.