THE EDITOR – Many young people today do not know and understand what PKK (Family Welfare Empowerment) means to society.
In addition to efforts in familiarizing PKK to today’s society, its fate also needs more attention from the government.
This time, The Editor summarizes the role of a woman named Indira Yusuf Ismail who succeeded in pushing the PKK to become an officially recognised entity in Makassar City.
Indira is the wife of the Makassar Mayor Danny Pomanto. In carrying out her duties, she admits that she has encountered many issues regarding women and children in the city where she lives.
One of the things she did to fight for women’s rights was to encourage the establishment of the PKK office.
“In the past, the Makassar City PKK did not have an office. It once had one, but it was taken by the Education Office. Then I built an office in Karimusu, beautified it, and it was taken again,” she said to The Editor.
“We finally had an office in the Government House (Rumah Jabatan). But it’s a hassle when there are guests. For the final step, I asked for an office personally. It is because PKK helps government programmes and goes down to the community. We are in contact with the community. And, finally, Makassar has a representative office,” she continued.
The office, she added, is used to carry out daily PKK tasks. It has rooms for the PKK Team, Dekranasda Room, PAUD Working Group, and a mini auditorium.
Indira said that she fought for the office directly with the Mayor of Makassar, her husband.
To convey her wishes, Indira was willing to wait for hours for the right time so that her husband could hear what she would say regarding her findings in the community.
“When I meet my husband, I tell him that we have to fight. He will forget it if I don’t remind him,” she said. “I am firm. That’s me as a person, I will truly fight it.”
One of the problems that is still a scourge in Makassar is child marriage.
The South Sulawesi Provincial Women’s Empowerment Agency stated in 2023 that cases of child marriage among children aged 15 years in South Sulawesi ranked first with a percentage of 6.7 per cent. This figure is higher than the national figure of only 2.46%.
Indira said that child marriage in Makassar is common among lower middle class. And these marriages are not forced. However, it still causes harm to the girls.
“If it’s a child marriage, maybe the honeymoon will last for one month. It’s a relief if it’s one month, but if (there is a honeymoon), there will already be problems (first). Some girls are short-minded in solving this problem, some are long-minded. We are trying to educate them,” she said.
One of the ways Indira has been able to play a role in promoting the welfare of women and children is by establishing a shelter that provides legal aid and counseling.
She said she had asked the Makassar City Government through the Women’s Empowerment Office to provide such shelters in every sub-district in the city where she lives.
“The place will be a solution for women in finding a way out,” she said.
