20.2 C
New York
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
- Advertisement -
More

    Empowering women in Indonesia and the Philippines

    World University Association for Community Development (WUACD) Universitas Airlangga held another summer program. This year, WUACD collaborates with the UNAIR Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) to discuss the Community Business Capacity Development Related to GEDSI (Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion).

    In the webinar held on Tuesday, July 13, 2022, the WUACD Summer Program featured the experts and discussed the woman empowerment strategy through business schemes. The event was attended by the Vice-Dean for Research, Innovation, and Community Development Affairs of UNAIR FEB, Dr Ahmad Rizki Sridadi. He said that women and children currently face lots of violence and discrimination.

    It was shown from the Human Development Index (IPM), Gender Development Index (IPG), and Gender Empowerment Index (IDG) that they had not met the target.

    “Hopefully, this forum could formulate an empowerment strategy so that women can be prioritized and become the development actors to realize the fifth point of SDGs,” he said.

    Ending discrimination against women

    In the webinar, Dr Jennifer Operio MBA from the Holy Angel University Philippines was featured as one of the guest speakers. She explained that some patriarchal cultures that discriminate against women in society are also embedded in the Philippines, just like in Indonesia.

    It causes the low involvement of women, particularly in economic activity. “As a result, a lot of families were plunged into poverty,” she said.

    Therefore, education to change the mindset and empowerment activities in the form of training to develop skills are highly required. Dr Jennifer said that the institutional approach-based is one of the most effective empowerment strategies. She gave an example of women empowerment in Mindanao, Philippines.

    “There is a community development institution that designs a development project for the farmers’ wives in Mindanao. The project received funding from the World Bank, which increases their revenue and infrastructure, and significantly improves their welfare,” she said.

    Apart from Dr Jennifer, the forum was also attended by other guest speakers, Dwi Yuliawati Faiz from UN Women (United Nation Entity for Gender Equality and Women Empowerment) Indonesia, Dr Tri Siwi Agustina, and Shochrul Rohmatul Ajija MEc from FEB. (*)