Women Members Need More Support, Two Studies Show

Mrs. Adrianna Venny (left) , Mr. Rocky Gerung (middle), and Mrs. Ani Soetjipto (right) presenters at the discussion. 

Women members were present and took part at the event. 

On June 11, 2010, UNDP Parliamentary Support Programme together with the Women Parlimentary Caucus launched two gender studies entitled “Here to Bring a Change:  A Reflection of the Experience of the 2004-2009 Women Members of Parliament” and “Gender Mainstreaming at the Parliament: A Study of 2004-2009 House of Representatives (DPR) and House of Regional Representatives (DPD)”. Following the launch, a public discussion was conducted with Rocky Gerung serving as moderator and Mrs. Adrianna Venny and Mrs. Ani Soetjipto as the resource persons and authors of the books.

The two publications, launched by Mrs. Timo Pangerang as the Head of the Caucus and Mrs. GKR Hemas as the member of the Caucus’ board, aim to mainstream gender responsive policies in parliament. At the start of the new parliamentary period in 2009, the number of women parliamentarians has increased, constituting 18 percent of DPR women members (from 11.8 percent) and 26.5 percent of DPD women members (from 22.5 percent). However, a similar increase in women participation was not seen in the House leadership. This has further hampered the long-struggle of mainstreaming gender in parliament.

The findings in the two publications include lessons learned and recommendations for the women members.  These recommendations include:  continuous support towards capacity building; stronger support from their respective political parties; an increase in the collaborative efforts between women members; implementation of  affirmative action policies; repositioning the Houses’ standing order and internal mechanism; and increase the support towards women’s movements in politics.

“The recommendation included in these two publications is a starting point in the Women Caucus’ work plan. We hope to increase capacity building activities towards our women members and see more women in the leadership of the House Bodies,” said Mrs. Timo Pangerang.

The launch event was covered by both local and national media such as The Jakarta Post, Antara, Liputan 6 and Jurnal Parlemen. Both publications are available in Indonesian and English, and can be downloaded from our Publication site.

Mrs. GKR Hemas (left), Mrs. Timo Pangerang (middle), and UNDP's Head of Governance Unit Mr. Rizal Malik ( right) at the launch.