International Women’s Day has been celebrated in many ways since 1909 and in many different places around the world. The celebration has become official since 1977 through the endorsement of the United Nations General Assembly. Since then, every year on March 8 International Women’s Day has been officially celebrated as the UN Day for Women’s Right and World Peace. Still in 2015, The World Economic Forum predicted that the gender gap would not be closed until 2133. In Indonesia, the reality is no better. Research shows that Indonesia is currently ranked number 97 out of 142 countries in term of gender parity, which means that there is still much room for improvement.
Reflecting on this, on 8 March 2016 at telkomtelstra’s office, 88 Kota Kasablanka Jakarta, telkomtelstra pioneered a proactive initiative to support gender equality in professional life by launching a Pledge for Parity campaign and featuring a discussion panel, including inspirational Indonesian women’s leaders from various industries.
Using ‘Empowering Women with Confidence’ as the theme, the event was attended by a diverse audience, including customers, press, and telkomtelstra’s employees, both male and female. In his opening speech, Erik Meijer, President Director telkomtelstra announced the company’s commitment in accelerating gender parity through policies and activities, as follow:
- Ensuring there are always female candidates in place when reviewing talent to fill open positions/vacancies, as much as practically possible (both for internal and external recruitment)
- Increasing women talent in those areas of the company where women are still under-represented
- Building facilities for breastfeeding mothers in the office
- Enhancing Work Flexibility Options
- Providing the opportunity to work from home for 2 weeks for a new fathers (paternity leave in Indonesia is currently only 2 days).
“Gender diversity in telkomtelstra is currently dominated by male employees 70:30. Therefore in the future we are planning to increase both the quantity and the quality of our female employees, especially in the areas and levels where women are still under represented,” said Erik Meijer.
The main feature of telkomtelstra’s International Womens Day celebration was the discussion panel, featuring motivational speakers such as Betti Alisjahbana, Founder and Owner of PT Quantum Business International, Mayang Schreiber, Senior Advisor Burson Marsteller, Maudy Koesnaedy Meijer, Actress and Brand Ambassador, as well as Farah Fitria Rachmayanti, Senior Manager IT Infrastructure & Architecture PT Telkom Indonesia. The discussion and sharing session inspired the audience, both male and female to passionately pursue their dreams.
By celebrating International Women’s Day and launching the Pledge for Parity Campaign, telkomtelstra showed one of the company’s commitments to Value its people and partners. Telkomtelstra believes by creating a diverse and inclusive working environment, more success in the future can be achieved.