House Speaker Dr. (H.C.) Puan Maharani attends the 143rd Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) General Assembly in Madrid, Spain. Photo: Dok/rni

House Speaker Dr. (H.C.) Puan Maharani spoke on the issue of women’s role during the COVID-19 pandemic and post-COVID-19 pandemic towards gender equality during her visit to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) headquarters in Madrid, Spain, saying women play a significant role in handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Seventy percent of healthcare workers are women,” she said in a written statement obtained by Parlementaria, Saturday (27/11/2021). “Women have been at the frontlines in response to the COVID-19. Women with authority or power play an enormous role in efforts to navigate in these challenging times due to the pandemic.”

“So it is necessary to encourage women to participate more either in public or private sectors,” she said during her visit to the UNWTO headquarters on the sidelines of the 143rd Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) General Assembly in Madrid, Spain. She added that gender equality in parliament would be an essential step in the life of people during the post-COVID-19 pandemic.

Former Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs went on to say the need for women's economic empowerment because it would promote fair economic recovery. “It also requires social protection based on gender equality. Sixty percent of women have not been covered by social protection so far,” said the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician.

The UNWTO and the Indonesian House agreed that social protection should be amended to provide more support to women, especially during times of crisis. Maharani raised issues about violence against women and children, which required attention. “Parliaments need to promote and work harder to end violence against women and children,” she said. “The policy to address the main problems is to empower women and children by giving them equal access to education.”

She also highlighted the importance of economic and people transformation through a gender perspective, saying the COVID-19 pandemic has created opportunities for such transformation. “Female Parliament Leaders are enthusiastic about leading the transformation. It is what parliaments and all gender should do to lead our global transformation system, to ensure fairer distribution of sources in a country and fairer opportunity in the future,” she said. (hal/sf-mut)