Gender-Based APBN and State Investment in Women

Special state policies for women have been the government's concern since the era of President Abdurrahman Wahid.

The following article was translated using both Microsoft Azure Open AI and Google Translation AI. The original article can be found in APBN Berbasis Jender dan Investasi Negara pada Kaum Perempuan

KOMPAS/SONYA HELLEN SINOMBOR

The Indonesian Women's Alliance commemorated International Women's Day 2024 by walking from in front of the Bawaslu Building to the Monas area in Jakarta on March 8, 2024. They advocated for various women's demands, particularly protection from various forms of violence, as crime rates increase both domestically and internationally.

In commemoration of World Women's Day, 8 March 2024, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on the world to continue to actively overcome discrimination against women. Guterres' call is based on the fact that there are still billions of women and girls who are marginalized and face injustice and discrimination. In Indonesia, the National Commission on Violence Against Women noted that in 2023 there will still be 289,111 cases of violence experienced by women.

Furthermore, Guterres also asked countries in the world to provide budgets for programs that support women. This step is not only to fulfill women's rights, but also to encourage progress towards a more just and equal world.

Long before Guterres reminded us to invest in women, the Indonesian government had already started prioritizing the state budget towards gender equality. This policy began in 2000 during the leadership of President Abdurrahman Wahid through Presidential Instruction Number 9 of 2000 regarding Gender Mainstreaming in National Development.

This step aims to improve the position, role and quality of women, as well as efforts to realize gender equality and justice in national life. This Presidential Instruction also states that all financing needed for the implementation of gender mainstreaming is borne by APBN and APBD.

President Abdurrahman Wahid's policy, or Gus Dur as he is commonly known, has introduced a new breakthrough in Indonesia by considering the gender aspect in every government policy. Looking at the underlying considerations made, Gus Dur's government policy complements the previous administration's initiatives.

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

Residents show their Sejahtera Family Card that can be used to retrieve the Family Hope Program aid at the Kedawung Subdistrict Office, Cirebon Regency, West Java, July 14, 2017.

One of the previous policies includes ratifying the world convention against discrimination of women in the Law Number 7 of 1984 concerning the Ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Another measure is the formation of a ministry that specifically handles the empowerment of women since 1978.

What distinguishes the major decision of Gus Dur's administration is the optimization of efforts for integrated and coordinated mainstreaming of gender. Presidential Instruction No. 9/2000 is accompanied by a guideline for gender mainstreaming that contains details on implementation, monitoring, evaluation of financing, and reporting of gender mainstreaming activities. When it comes to reporting, President Gus Dur requested that the Minister of Women Empowerment regularly report on the results of gender mainstreaming implementation related to achievements and obstacles that occur.

The starting point for the optimization of gender bias that began 24 years ago was subsequently followed by a number of policies. In 2005, Presidential Regulation No. 7/2005 was issued regarding the National Medium-Term Development Plan for the years 2004-2009.

In one of the development targets of the 2004-2009 RPJMN, development goals are included to ensure gender justice for increasing the role of women in various fields of development which is reflected in various laws, development programs, improving GDI (Gender-related Development Index) figures. ), improving GEM (Gender Empowerment Measurement) numbers, as well as decreasing acts of violence against women and children.

Gender-based development policy

The pace of gender-based development is increasingly expanding to the regions and is integrated by involving various state institutions. Regarding policies at the provincial and district/city levels, the Minister of Home Affairs issued Decree No. 132/2003 regarding the General Guidelines for Implementing Gender Mainstreaming in Development in the Regions.

The decision mandates two fundamental things, namely the allocation of a minimum budget of 5 percent from the regional budget for gender mainstreaming policies and the establishment of an institution responsible for gender mainstreaming in the region.

The regulation was then followed by the Minister of Home Affairs Regulation No. 15/2008 and the Ministry of Home Affairs Regulation No. 67/2011 on General Guidelines for the Implementation of Gender Mainstreaming in the Region. The new provisions mandate Bappeda to integrate gender mainstreaming planning and budgeting policies in the region every year.

The steps towards integrating gender-based development policy were apparent in 2012 through a Joint Circular Letter from the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection regarding the National Strategy for Accelerating Gender Mainstreaming (PUG) through Gender-Responsive Planning and Budgeting (PPRG).

To carry out a gender-sensitive development agenda and conduct evaluations, the government has also developed the Gender Development Index (IPG) and Gender Empowerment Index (IDG). The preparation of both indices is handled by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS). According to BPS data, the initial year for the Gender Development Index was 2010.

DEFRI WERDIONO

Beneficiaries of the Family Hope Program received the Prosperous Family Card at the Kanigoro Village Hall, Pagelaran District, Malang Regency, East Java on June 29th, 2021.

The Gender Empowerment Index (IDG) focuses more on the dimensions of representation in the parliament, decision-making, and income distribution. The preparation of the Gender Development Index looks at three dimensions of basic human achievements, namely longevity and healthy life, knowledge, and decent standard of living. These three components are identical to the indicators used in the Human Development Index (HDI) by comparing the achievement of HDI between women and men.

Another thing that the government is doing is designing a Gender-Responsive State Budget. Since 2021, the Ministry of Finance has introduced a new innovation in the State Budget, which is the provision of non-physical special allocation funds for women and child protection services. Referring to the publication of the financial note and the 2024 State Budget Draft, the funds for women and child protection services are directed towards three activity clusters.

The three are operational assistance for the protection of women and children; operational assistance for the prevention of violence against women and children; and operational assistance for the management of protection of women and children. In the 2024 State Budget Draft, the government and DPR agreed to allocate a fund of Rp 132 billion for the protection of women and children services. This amount is the same as the budget for 2023.

KORNELIS KEWA AMA

Governor of NTT Viktor Laiskodat symbolically handed over Merdeka credit assistance to female farmers in Kupang on August 17, 2022.

Gender responsive APBN

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati explained that the government has included Gender Responsive Budgeting in the APBN as part of the policy to overcome gender inequality. In the G20 Women's Empowerement Kick-Off Meeting forum on December 22 2021, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani explained that the gender-responsive APBN starts from the planning, budgeting, monitoring, and tracking stages of how state spending supports the creation of gender equality in Indonesia.

One of the government's concrete programs to support women's empowerment is the Family Hope Program. This program targets 10 million families who receive cash assistance from the government. The assistance is mostly received by housewives.

Another program is the distribution of people's business credit (KUR). Until December 26, 2023, the distribution of KUR has reached IDR 255.8 trillion for 4.5 million debtors. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani explained that most of the KUR distributed is enjoyed by SMEs, which are mostly managed by women. Not to mention various social protection programs in the state budget that also target many women.

Various gender-based policies are commonly found in several countries around the world to build gender equality. According to USAID publications, some countries that have successfully achieved gender equality through gender budgeting are Canada, Austria, and Sweden.

KOMPAS/COKORDA YUDISTIRA

The Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection has distributed a specific assistance program for children and women who are heads of households affected by Covid-19 in Bali Province, on September 11, 2021.

Canada is focused on six key areas that require change to advance gender equality. These six areas are education/skills, economic participation, democratic leadership, access to justice to deal with gender violence, poverty alleviation and welfare.

Regarding Austria's gender budgeting initiative, the focus is on strong support for regulation and policies. The Austrian government mandates that every institution/department in their Annual Budget Report has at least one program goal directly related to gender equality.

Also read: Women's Role in the Economy is Increasing

One of Austria's strategies in gender budgeting is to require the government to conduct gender equality impact assessments of every law or regulation created.

Various efforts conducted by several countries, including Indonesia, are a form of investment by the state towards women. The goal is to overcome the injustice and discrimination experienced by women. (KOMPAS Research)

Also read: The Complexity of Women's Equal Rights in Indonesia