Bappenas Highlights Women's Role as Partners in Development

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Minister of National Development Planning (PPN)/Deputy Head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Febrian Alphyanto Ruddyard stated that women play a vital role as partners in collaboration (co-creators) in national development. He made this statement at the “National Dialogue and Workshop on Community Empowerment, Enhancing Independence, and National Resilience in Strengthening Strategic and Inclusive Women’s Leadership” in Jakarta on Wednesday, held to commemorate International Women’s Day on 8 March. He said that the government has positioned women’s leadership as part of the development transformation based on the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) for 2025-2029. “Transformation occurs when we dare to change our way of thinking, dare to move away from narrow top-down approaches, dare to acknowledge that solutions do not always come from the centre, and dare to position women as co-creators of development and not just mere objects (of development),” Febrian stated. He highlighted the paradox where women become the backbone during crises but are not at the centre of decision-making. This condition, according to him, not only shows social inequality but also structural weaknesses in development. “Women are the most affected (during crises), but often the least heard. When policies are made without a women’s perspective, those policies will lose half of reality. And policies that miss half of reality will certainly fail to address crises comprehensively,” Febrian said. He also affirmed that gender equality is not an additional agenda in government programmes but a prerequisite for the success of national development.