A total of 775 members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and police will be deployed to secure the Women 20 Summit from July 18 to 20, held in the Lake Toba region of Parapat, Simalungun regency, in North Sumatra.

The local administration has said that security measures would be prioritized around the event locations, as well as around airports, hotels and water ports.

North Sumatra Governor Edy Rahmayadi said 14 members of the Group of 20 had confirmed their delegation's attendance.

“I’m calling for all security teams to do their duties professionally and proportionately; let’s be a good host,” he said during a security roll call in Medan on Friday.

The W20 Summit focuses on developing solutions for empowering women as part of the series of events under Indonesia’s G20 presidency.

A number of global figures are set to descend on Lake Toba, including Melinda Gates, cofounder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Queen Rania of Jordan and Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway, according to Hardiani Uli Silalahi, the chair of the Indonesian Women’s Congress (Kowani) who has been appointed the chair of the W20 Summit, in April.

Uli said that aside from female ambassadors of countries like Canada and Australia, the summit also expected to welcome other female leaders, such as Sima Sami Bahous, executive director of the United Nations agency for women’s empowerment, World Bank managing director Mari Elka Pangestu and Women’s World Banking CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian.

They were all invited as speakers or participants in a series of international seminars that would specifically look into core issues on women’s empowerment and the economy, she added.

The priority issues to be explored at the W20 include gender-based discrimination and equality, economic inclusion, women on the margins and women’s health. The W20 would produce solutions it would then recommend to the world’s biggest economies in this year’s G20 declaration.

The G20 Leaders’ Declaration is an annual document intended to guide the direction of global policymaking.

In 2014, G20 leaders resolved to meet the goal of “reducing the gap in participation rates between men and women in our countries by 25 percent by 2025”, as well as to bring “more than 100 million women into the labor force”.

The W20 is among the 10 official G20 engagement groups that involve a network of relevant stakeholder communities to facilitate dialogue and provide input for G20 members.

Its main objective is to promote the adoption of documents as part of the G20’s commitment to issues concerning women’s development, gender equality, inclusive growth and women’s involvement in the global economy.

Source:
courtesy of THE JAKARTA POST

by Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post)

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