Bandung, West Java (ANTARA) - West Java is targeting to boost the economic competitiveness of at least 600 thousand women by 2025 so that they can contribute to regional development.
West Java provincial secretary Herman Suryatman said here on Tuesday that the newly-launched West Java Women's Vocational Training School is expected to support this goal."In December 2025, we have a target of 600 thousand trained women who will have been given access to financial resources and marketing, and they will be supervised by the sub-district administration," he informed.
He expressed the hope that the women would become economically empowered by engaging in various fields, including in micro and super-micro scale.
Suryatman emphasized that the vocational training program, launched in collaboration with the South Korean government, must be followed up by cooperation between regional apparatus organizations (OPD) at the district/city level.
The target achievement must involve the community, academicians, mass media, and the central government — in this case, the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Children Protection (PPPA), he said.
Explaining the process, he informed that each district/city government in West Java will send five trainers who will train two trainers in every sub-district. The two trainers, in turn, will train 10 people at the village/sub-district levels.
Suryatman said he believes that if the goal is realized, welfare issues in the province could be resolved and help improve the macro indicators of development later.
"Women are one of the family's breadwinners. Increasing family income is expected to have an impact on reducing poverty, unemployment, and definitely on stunting because when the income is good, families are more likely to buy nutritious food," he explained.
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On the same occasion, the PPPA Ministry's acting deputy for children's rights fulfillment, Rini Handayani, lauded the West Java provincial government's effort to increase women's empowerment.
"Economic empowerment to increase women's competitiveness is not only about economic aspect but also about how they can understand themselves, about what they want and how to achieve it," Handayani said.