Gov’t to Establish Women, Child Friendly Villages

Minister of Women Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA) Bintang Puspayoga becomes a speaker on Podkabs episode 3. (Photo: Agung/PR)

Minister of Women Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA) Bintang Puspayoga has said that in 2022 the Ministry will focus on implementing the Women and Child Friendly Subdistrict/Village (DRPPA) model.

The Ministry collaborates with Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration and Ministry of Home Affairs.

“For Women and Child Friendly Villages, we are collaborating with Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration, while for the subdistricts [we collaborate] with Ministry of Home Affairs. I am very grateful for the extraordinary support from related ministry/institution,” said Bintang in the third episode of Podkabs (Cabinet Secretariat’s and Cabinet’s Podcast channel), which was uploaded on YouTube and Spotify, Friday (04/23).

The DRPPA is a village/subdistrict model that has a gender and children’s rights perspective in governance, development and empowerment of village/subdistrict communities, which are carried out in a planned, comprehensive, sustainable manner, in accordance with Indonesia’s development vision.

The development of this model is to respond to the five directives of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo regarding women empowerment and child protection starting from the micro level, namely the village/subdistrict. The five directives are increasing women’s empowerment in the field of entrepreneurship from a gender perspective; increasing the role of mothers/families in child care/education; reducing violence against women and children; reducing child labor; and preventing child marriage.

“The village with a female village head, through the village regulation, followed by the existing budget and social sanctions, has successfully brought them to exclude child marriages,” said Bintang.

The Minister expressed hope that all regions in the country can replicate this DRPPA model.

“We are trying to realize the DRPPA model. If this is successful, we hope that regional leaders and governments will replicate this model in their respective region,” she remarked.

For the record, the DRPPA was first initiated in 2021 in ten pilot villages with the State Budget funding. Compared to that in 2021, in 2022 the Ministry will develop much more DRPPA in 132 villages, bringing the total to 142 villages. With the increasing support and awareness of regional heads towards women empowerment and child protection, this number has again increased to 156 villages and 70 subdistricts. (FID/MAY/RF/JW/AIT/UN) (EST/MUR)