G20 Empower expected to push women to assume leadership roles

Jakarta, June 2 (ANTARA) - The G20 Empower issue notes on women’s leadership are expected to further push women to become leaders at the managerial level, an official from the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry has said. "The first issue note concerns accountability to implement KPI (key performance indicators),” Eko Novi Ariyanti informed in a G20 press statement issued here on Thursday. "This issue note discusses the percentage of women on the board of directors and technical roles in companies. Thus, the policies that they carry out will affect women and vulnerable groups at the grassroots level," she added. The G20 is an international forum comprising 19 countries that work together to handle major issues. Indonesia is holding the presidency of the grouping this year. The G20 Empower is an alliance within the forum that comprises the government and the private sector, which aims to expedite women's leadership and empowerment in G20 countries. According to Ariyanti, several companies in Indonesia have made efforts to bolster the capacity of women workers. As a result, they have access to leadership roles at the managerial level. Through the second issue note, G20 Empower is encouraging companies to support women managing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through their policies. This is because SMEs managed by women can drive a country's economic growth. The second issue note was only brought up during Indonesia’s Presidency because the government knows that women in SMEs have made a major contribution to the economy, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, she explained. The issue note received a very positive reception from G20 countries, she added. G20 Empower has also discussed future economic readiness by improving women's skills and digital capability in the third issue note. "On the one hand, we also encourage companies, which are quote unquote male dominated, to still provide opportunities to women to access trainings related to technology," Ariyanti said.