Press Release Number: B-426 /SETMEN/HM.02.04/08/2022 Bali (23/08) – The G20 Ministerial Conference on Women's Empowerment (MCWE) 2022 will be held on August 24-25 in Nusa Dua Bali. The G20 MCWE 2022 represents Indonesia's commitment to continue the G20 MCWE that has been started at the G20 Italy Presidency 2021. The implementation of MCWE 2022 is motivated by the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women. Women have been significantly affected by gender gap during the pandemic, as they are vulnerable to layoffs, lose their livelihoods, fall victim to violence, and bear the double burdens in the household. Against this backdrop, Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection (MoWECP) set the theme for this year's G20 MCWE as "Recover Together, Recover Stronger to Close Gender Gap", which rises three main issues. "There are three main issues raised at the G20 MCWE considering the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic crisis has poorly affected women. The three main issues are: (1) The Economic Aspects of Post-Covid-19 Care: Missed Opportunities in the Labor Market; (2) Closing the Digital Gender Gap: Women's Participation in the Digital Economy and Future Work; and (3) Women's Entrepreneurship: Accelerating Equality and Accelerating Recovery," said Lenny Rosalin, Deputy Minister for Gender Equality at the MoWECP and Chairperson of G20 MCWE 2022. Those three main issues are considered important as increasing unemployment rate and poverty affected women during the pandemic. "As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been an imbalance in the distribution of unpaid care work that afflicted women, which has reached 61% compared to men. In addition, women are also subjected to the responsibility of taking care the household. We also hope that this conference will raise awareness to women who run MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises),” said Lenny. "The conference will be attended by the G20 member countries and 6 invitees. Participants of the G20 MCWE 2022 will identify and capture the global landscape, future trends and trajectories of the G20 member countries on those three main women's empowerment issues. In addition, participants will also share good practices and lessons learned from G20 member countries on women's empowerment issues, expand discussions with the G20 stakeholders including the government, private sector, civil society, academia and development experts. They will also develop PRESS RELEASE recommendations to the G20 leaders meeting on implementation of real approaches to the policies and programs related to women's empowerment." "The G20 Ministerial Conference on Women's Empowerment / MCWE 2022 is expected to formulate and strengthen the commitments of the G20 member countries to set steps forward, to develop joint concrete actions to close the gender gap, as well as to realize women's empowerment in the world's 20 largest economies," Lenny said. The MoWECP will also ensure efforts to strengthen the mainstreaming of gender equality and women's empowerment through Policy Notes, which will cover the areas of education, health, employment, energy transition, digital economy, climate and sustainable environment. BUREAU OF LAW AND PUBLIC RELATIONS MINISTRY OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND CHILDREN PROTECTION Ph & Fax (021) 3448510 e-mail : [email protected] website : www.kemenpppa.go.id