PSGA Webinar: The Pandemic Demands Women's Empowerment

Rectorate, UIN News Online – The Covid-19 pandemic demands holistic empowerment efforts for women following the double burden they have to bear. Various Indonesian women's organizations have participated in guarding women's empowerment.

Those are the conclusions of the Center for Gender and Child Studies (PSGA) UIN Jakarta Webinar titled “Dua Tahun Pandemi: Evaluasi Pengawasan Program Pemberdayaan Perempuan di Indonesia”, Thursday (04/21/2022). The webinar was held in conjunction with the commemoration of Kartini Day in the Covid-19 pandemic situation.

The webinar was opened directly by the Head of PSGA UIN Jakarta, Ulfah Fajarini and attended by the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs Zulkifli, representing the Rector of UIN Jakarta Amany Lubis who was unable to attend. The webinar was attended by the academic community of UIN Jakarta and audiences from various institutions.

Moderated by Iin Kandedes, the webinar presents two speakers, namely the Chair of the Indonesian Women's Corps (KOWANI) as well as the Chair of PP Aisyiyah Masyitoh Chusnan and the Presidium of the Indonesian Women's Islamic Consultative Body (BMIWI) Hartini Salama.

Ulfa in her remarks said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, women were one of the most affected groups. This situation positions women to carry twice the burden as usual.

For women who work outside the home, the pandemic situation has resulted in them facing socio-economic challenges due to the pandemic. The burden is increasing because during the pandemic, they also have to accept more roles other than being housewives as well as teachers for their children.

He also added, serious efforts to empower Indonesian women need to be given considering the importance of their role for Indonesian families.

“We must support women's empowerment in order to reach their maximum potential,” she said.

Inline with Ulfa, Masyitoh also said that various women's organizations worked hard in realizing this. Kowani as a national women's organization continues to promote empowerment in the fields of science and technology, arts and culture, family health and welfare, environment, economy, law and human rights, and religion.

To ensure that women's empowerment continues in the future, Kowani together with other women's alliances such as Komnas Perempuan, the Sarina Institute, and others continue to push for various gender-friendly regulations.

On the same occasioin, Hartini also assured that various women's alliances such as the Indonesian Women's Islamic Consultative Body also saw the importance of empowering women, especially during the pandemic.

In addition to acting as wives and mothers, women during the pandemic must also act as teachers. The problem is even more serious if the mother's education level is not able to meet the demands of teaching materials of their children.

However, both Masyitoh and Hartini agree, empowering women is not the responsibility of one party but a shared task. That way, Indonesian women can be expected to be able to give their best contribution (zm/usa)