Women's poverty, an alarming signal

I was struck by an article in the Sunday edition (April 30, 1997) of the Media Indonesia daily titled Kemiskinan Perempuan (Women's poverty).

The article was written by Prof. Dr. Saparinah Sadli, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights and the head of the postgraduate program for women's studies at the University of Indonesia.

In that article, Prof. Saparinah Sadli expresses serious doubts about the extent of consideration that is being given to women's poverty, which she says is as important as men's. The question emerged as the cabinet meeting on April 22, which was called specifically to firm up the poverty alleviation plan, had not included the State Minister of Women's Roles. The professor is of the opinion that poverty is a condition closely related to women's lives, and if poverty alleviation means the alleviation of poverty for both men and women, then men and women should jointly deal with it.

The core of the matter is: women do play a significant economic role in the household; do they also have proportional access to economic benefits?

Why was the State Minister of Women's Roles not invited and how does the government actually view women's poverty? Prof. Saparinah Sadli has rung an alarming bell.

CARLA BIANPOEN

Jakarta