Commemorating Mother’s Day, on 21 December 2016, in cooperation with the National Institute of Public Administration (LAN) and the Indonesian Association of Policy Analysts (AAKI), KSI organised a talk show on ‘The Role of Women in Public Policy in Indonesia’ along with the inauguration of new board members to the AAKI. Around 250 participants from national agencies and sub-national governments, government research and development units, universities and international development partners attended the event, which aimed to raise awareness of civil servants on gender and bureaucracy and enhance understanding of the role of policy analysts in public policy.

 

“To accelerate development, Indonesia needs more women to play more important roles in defining and deciding public policy in Indonesia, especially at the strategic level. The merit-based policy analyst functional position creates those opportunities for women,” said Dr Adi Surynto, M.Si, the head of Lembaga Administrasi Negara (LAN or National Institute of Public Administration), when opening the talk show. Dr Nicola Nixon of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in her opening remarks emphasised, “Australia’s own experience showed that women’s voices are crucial in creating better policies for all.”

 

The talk show had four women speakers in prominent positions, Prof Dewi Fortuna Anwar Deputy Secretary to the Vice President, Dr Sri Budi Eko Wardani, the Head of the University of Indonesia’s Centre for Political Studies (Puskapol), Sri Hadiarti Woro Kustriani, S.H., M.A., LAN’s Secretary-General and Dr Cellica Nurrachdiana, Bupati of Karawang. The Government, through its Nawacita program, has made it a priority to increase the role and representation of women in politics and development. The speakers appreciated the support of KSI in fostering the use of evidence to improve the quality of public policy through partnerships between government and policy research institutions and pointed out that more progressive policies, such as minimum quotas for women in the legislature, can boost the number of women in public policy.