The launch of the survey report “Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Gender and the Achievement of Sustainable Development Goals in Indonesia (SDGs)” by UN Women, in collaboration with Indosat Ooredoo on Friday, October 23, 2020, via Zoom, highlighted not only the socio-economic disparities faced by vulnerable groups but also the wide gap in gender inequality exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Sara Duerto-Valero (Regional advisor on gender statistics for Asia and the Pacific, UN Women) and Cecilia Tinonin (Gender Statistics Specialist, UN Women) revealed how Covid-19 could jeopardize the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals for women and girls in Indonesia. 

Findings show that as many as 82% of Indonesian women, the majority of whom rely on income from family businesses, experienced significant income loss. A similar situation was experienced by Indonesian men, although 80% of them still benefited from broader income sources. School closures as a Covid-19 prevention measure caused 39% of Indonesian women to take on teaching, mentoring, and training children, while 29% of Indonesian men performed these tasks. And as many as 36% of informal women workers had to reduce their paid working hours, compared to 30% of informal men workers.

Clearly, the imbalance in the pandemic's impact on women must be a concern and a reference in determining subsequent policies. According to Mike Verawati from the Women's Coalition, “the situation described by the survey presenter is not much different from what the coalition has observed in Indonesia.” Additionally, comprehensive data is crucial according to Jamshed Kazi, UN Women Representative for Indonesia and Liaison to ASEAN, to meet the needs of women and girls, as well as to promote rapid recovery efforts. 

The complete UN report revealing the severe impacts on women and girls left behind during COVID-19 can be downloaded through the following link: https://data.unwomen.org/publications/counting-costs-covid-19-assessing-impact-gender-and-achievement-sdgs-indonesia