Many of the challenges faced by rural women can be addressed by science and technology: they can contribute to food security by increasing crop yields; they can reduce women’s domestic and productive work by introducing labour-saving technologies, and they can increase women’s participation in the rural labour market by improving communications.
Tools that encourage knowledge and information sharing can also be very beneficial to women. New and basic Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can help women feel less isolated, strengthen their negotiating power, and pool their abilities when they are made available to them.
Together with various parties, we continue to encourage girls to participate in science, including technology, so that more women can contribute to the field.
– Indra Gunawan, Deputy for community participation at the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection
The Indonesian government has encouraged women to participate in career opportunities in science and technology through the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection.
“We want to encourage women and girls to be involved in science and technology,” Indra Gunawan, deputy for community participation at the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, said at an online press conference on Wednesday. Women make up half of Indonesia’s population, and they have immense potential, especially given that their abilities are not inferior to men’s, she added.
Meanwhile, Ir. Suharti, M.A., PhD, secretary-general of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, noted that the number of women active in science and technology, as well as the percentage of women in politics and management, must be determined.
“We also need to know how many women are participating in science and technology,” she added. Suharti remarked that the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, as well as the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, must collaborate to ensure that “women in science” becomes a priority. She complimented women who are already working in research, such as Febty Febriani, PhD, of the National Research and Innovation Agency’s Centre for Physics Research (BRIN).
For her research on generating technologies for sustainability and safeguarding life on Earth, Febriani was one of the 2021 National Fellowship winners under the ‘For Women in Science (FWIS)’ programme.
In addition, to assure progress, the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection has incorporated information and communication technologies. Significant policy, strategy, and implementation changes in women’s empowerment and child protection could occur at the national and regional levels.
Yohana Susana Yembise, the Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, stated that understanding information and communication technologies will enable women and children to keep up with current events.
Welfare initiatives for women and children must be carried out through collaboration, networking, mutual reinforcement, and appreciation of the efforts of other government partners, such as religious leaders, traditional leaders, community leaders, corporate leaders, and the media.
“We can work together and are committed to thinking about innovation and strategy by utilising information technology,” the minister stated. Minister Yembise anticipated that the national coordination meeting will bring policies and programmes for women’s empowerment and child protection closer together.
OpenGov Asia reported, women have played a prominent role in the digital era, as evidenced by the growing number of female entrepreneurs in the past 3 years. According to IWAPI (Ikatan Wanita Pengusaha – Indonesia’s premier association of women’s enterprises), in 2015, women represented 60% of the total 49.9m entrepreneurs in Indonesia – that number continues to grow by 20% annually.
Therefore, personal initiative skills development is important for women. Nevertheless, exposure to male-dominated industries is also important. Another article said that implementing this provides an opportunity to find women in growth sectors and tell their stories, allowing women to see themselves in those shoes.
Focusing on these sectors also limits financial opportunities, as banks see these businesses as less of a risk to invest in. Grown explained that SMEs were particularly important because they play a significant role in job creation in all economies around the world. Thus, encouraging more women to own SMEs increases job prospects.