Women-linked issues need serious attention
JAKARTA (JP): Women activists lamented yesterday the lack of serious efforts towards overcoming the country's high maternity mortality rate, gender inequality and reproduction health problems.
Saparinah Sadli, head of the Women's Studies Program at the University of Indonesia's Post Graduate School, said programs which aim to improve the condition of women currently exist, but in implementation the programs have fallen short of expectation.
For instance medical workers only examine babies, and mothers are ignored in monthly checkups. "It's never occurred to them (medical workers) that mothers need the same attention as their babies," Saparinah told The Jakarta Post.
Earlier, Saparinah had addressed participants of the symposium on Safe Motherhood. The four-day symposium co-organized by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) and the Central Bureau of Statistics concluded yesterday.
Government officials, women activists, and non-governmental organizations members attended the symposium.
She praised the government for initiating national children's welfare campaigns, such as the Oct. 15 anti-polio vaccination program.
"Unfortunately, there are few programs which directly address women's issues," Saparinah said.
Women not only need care during pregnancy, but should be given health education from childhood onwards.
Syamsiah Achmad, a former assistant to the State Minister of Women's Roles, suggested to the symposium that health education and reproductive health be taught in schools.
"I don't suggest we teach children about sex, but I want them to understand the responsibilities of parenthood," Syamsiah said.
Male students should know that women face different health problems, and they should be well prepared for parenthood, she said. "They (students) should take equal responsibility for raising their children and taking care of their families," Syamsiah said.
Mely G. Tan, underlined the need for all people, not only women, to pay more attention to gender sensitive issues.
In some countries women are treated differently from men, even before they are born. In one country some pregnant women try to abort their fetus if they know the baby is female.
"Here, we should realize women are also treated differently because traditionally, men are considered superior," Mely, LIPI's senior researcher, said.
People give higher priority to educating men and men have better access to information, she said, adding it will take years to change this practice.
Fortunately, women are not excluded in data gathering, she said. Data collected by the Central Bureau of Statistics is very important in revealing gender inequality.
The 1990 Census shows that of the country's 179,321,641 people, 89,873,406 were women. Some 8 percent of women and 4 percent of men were illiterate, according to census data.
On the political front, 62 Of the 500 members of the House of representatives are women and "only" 40 of the 500 members of the People's Consultative Assembly are women.
There are only two women in the 39-member cabinet: State Minister of Women's Roles Mien Sugandhi and Minister of Social Services Inten Suweno.
Indonesia ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women in 1984, as part of the government's commitment to gender equality. (ste)