Simalungun, 21 July 2022. The handover of the communiqué to the Group of Twenty (G20) Presidency of Indonesia today, Thursday (21/07) also marks the closing of the Women20 Summit (W20Summit) in Simalungun, Lake Toba, North Sumatra which has been taking place since 19 July 2022. Co-Sherpa of G20 Presidency of Indonesia, Raden Edi Prio Pambudi, received this communiqué for further submission to the upcoming G20 Summit. The meeting in Toba also marked the birth of the “Toba Track”, as a commitment from W20 to provide real action in empowering women. W20 became the first engagement group to complete a communiqué and at the same time hold a summit in Toba, North Sumatra.
Representing the President of the Republic of Indonesia, the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs of Indonesia, Airlangga Hartarto, said “First of all, on behalf of President Joko Widodo, allow me to express my highest congratulations and appreciation to all stakeholders involved in Women20. The government also warmly welcomes all delegates who have completed the W20 communiqué at the W20 Summit in Lake Toba.”
At the 2014 Summit in Brisbane, which was supported by the establishment of Women 20 (W20) during the Presidency of Turkey in 2015, the G20 leaders committed and targeted to reduce the gender gap in labour force participation by 25 percent by 2025. Referring to this commitment, then through this 2022 Presidency, Indonesia has a big responsibility to focus on delivering. At the helm of the world's major economic forums, the government wants to see tangible results in women's economic empowerment.
This year's Presidency has identified two main priorities for women's empowerment, which aim to create added economic value and empower women in the new economy. First, supporting women-owned MSMEs to fully participate in an inclusive digital-based economic transformation. Second, invest in digital and STEM skills of women and girls to participate in all sectors of the economy.
"I am optimistic that there is a strong synergy between the G20 member countries and the W20 as one of the engagement groups, especially in terms of sharing solutions and work programs in achieving a more inclusive and resilient global strategy. We look forward to the W20 continuing its commitments and work plans. We also look forward to seeing the results in the future, particularly with regard to the W20 communiqué. I believe that the W20 communiqué will add insight to the G20 Summit and improve Indonesia's approach to promoting women's empowerment on the G20 agenda,” explained Airlangga further.
In her closing remarks at the W20 Summit, the Minister of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA) of the Republic of Indonesia, Bintang Puspayoga, explained that since 2021, many efforts have been made to accelerate recovery from the impact of the pandemic. Although globally there is an improvement in a positive direction, we need to realize that until now the level of economic recovery has not been evenly distributed among G20 member countries, including between genders themselves.
“Therefore, the G20 Presidency of Indonesia this time must be able to ensure that a gender lens is applied to the global economic recovery agenda to address the handling of disproportionate impacts on women. We must ensure that the global economic recovery must also pay attention to gender equality.”
“We believe that the outcome of this summit will further deepen our thinking and understanding of the importance of gender equality in global economic recovery. We also hope that the entire current and future economic system can lead to improved policies and regulations, especially in increasing women's participation in the economy through women-owned MSMEs," explained Bintang further.
Meanwhile, in her remarks, Chair of W20 Indonesia, Hadriani Uli Silalahi said that W20 is the first engagement group from the Sherpa Track and Finance Track of G20 Presidency of Indonesia to hold a summit along with the completion of the communiqué. This is a very proud achievement. Thank you to the government, all delegates, experts, practitioners, and all parties who have worked hard over the past seven months. This success shows that women play an important role and will continue to be at the forefront of change for the better. It doesn't stop there; W20 will continue to fight to ensure women's empowerment is in the main focus.
Continuing the message, the Co-Chair of W20 Indonesia, Dian Siswarini, agreed that the W20 communiqué is only one of many steps that must be taken to achieve gender equality. Going forward, W20 will continue to work to promote implementation of these recommendations, monitor progress and ensure real impact.
“One of the things we want to focus on is launching the “Toba Track”, which is a series of concrete actions that need to be followed up until 2030. To remind us, this is in line with the Brisbane Goals. For this reason, adding to Chair of W20 Indonesia's message, I would like to invite all participants involved to continue to work together and collaborate in continuing the efforts that we have built together,” explained Dian further.
W20 Summit Delegates Present the Communiqué
Meanwhile, at the closing of the W20 Summit of the Presidency of Indonesia, all delegates present agreed on the final results of the communiqué which would be forwarded to the upcoming G20 Summit. There are three important points that are recommended to the G20. First, following up on the commitments previously stated in the 2021 G20 Leaders Declaration through the W20 Roadmap of Rome, namely increasing the quantity and quality of women's work.
Second, encourage the establishment of G20 Gender Data Network and Recommendation Results Dashboard from W20, which includes data transparency and performance monitoring that will show the best follow-up and encourage evidence-based policy making. Third, developing or enhancing National Strategies on Gender Equity and Equality (NSGEE) in line with human rights agreements, collaborating with the government to improve the role of women in the family, society and economy, including realizing equality in G20 countries.
In encouraging the acceleration of the achievement of these three points, there are five priority focuses formulated in the W20 communiqué of the Presidency of Indonesia. The first priority relates to non-discrimination and equality. Among other things talk about the elimination of discriminatory laws, policies, systems and services that hinder women and girls in all development sectors, including education, employment, entrepreneurship, health, technology, energy, as well as in private, public and political life. .
The second priority is regarding MSMEs owned and led by women. One of the proposals is to promote a women's entrepreneurship policy framework and ecosystem that will accelerate the growth of women-owned and led MSMEs. Provides access to finance up to markets. Provide opportunities and incentives for women-owned and led MSMEs to participate in more sectors such as digital innovation, AI, green and blue technology, green energy, and STEAM.
The third priority is to raise health responses that prioritize gender equality. One of the points raised is how to increase access to affordable health services for women and girls. Creating new health and welfare services that include maintenance, living conditions, water, sanitation and hygiene, which have a disproportionate impact on the health of women and girls. Promote global distribution of vaccines and medicines with a WTO/TRIPS waiver.
The fourth priority, regarding rural women. One of the issues raised in this priority is the elimination of inequality in access to rural women's participation in the economy and an additional focus on inequality for women involved in agriculture. Increase inclusive infrastructure investment in rural areas by 25%, ensuring women's access to transport, water, electricity, clean energy, agricultural inputs and subsidies, connectivity, digital services, education and health care, by 2030.
The fifth priority is talking about women with disabilities. One of the points raised was requiring employers to make reasonable adjustments to encourage the participation of women with disabilities in the workforce. This includes a mandated sex-disaggregated quota of employing and retaining persons with disabilities in the public sector of no less than 3%, providing additional benefits and incentives (such as tax exemptions and incentives) for private sector companies to provide accommodation.