East and Southeast Asia Programme Country Briefs: Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago, made up of more than 17,000 islands. It is the fourth most populous nation in the world, and has the largest Muslim-majority population.i After a long period of authoritarian rule, Indonesia began a transition to democracy in 1998, ushering in a period of political, social and economic reforms called ‘reformasi’. This has had a positive overall effect on the situation of women and on progress towards gender equality.ii A commitment to the advancement of women has been shown through the ratification of international agreementsiii, passage of laws, and the establishment of institutional policies and programmes that address women’s specific needs. A landmark Presidential Decree, issued in 2000, obliges all government agencies to mainstream gender in their policies, programmes and budgets to eliminate gender discrimination. The Medium Term National Development Plan specifically identifies gender as a cross-cutting issue.