President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday reiterated the government's commitment to prioritizing women's empowerment and gender issues in development programs, and called on Indonesian women to develop their potentials.

"Women, as well as children, are the top priorities in our development. The government has always been the vanguard to protect women and children from violence, crimes and hardship," he said at the opening of a national meeting on women's empowerment and child protection at the State Palace.

"Women have the right to proper livelihoods, and the government is committed to improving their quality of life, especially through greater access to healthcare and education."

Yudhoyono called on Indonesians to continue supporting and empowering women in all aspects of development, including in economics and politics.

"I expect women to continue performing well in various fields, and giving their best for the country," he said.

A government quota calls for women to occupy 30 percent of government positions. Yudhoyono said he was confident this could be achieved in the 2009 general elections.

"We are glad to see more women at the House of Representatives and in regional councils nationwide. Hopefully there will be more women serving as governors, regents and mayors," he said.

"But men should not feel threatened by this. We still have a long way to go."

State Minister for Women's Empowerment Meutia Farida Hatta said Indonesia had experienced an improvement in women's quality of living over the past few years, as indicated by a rising Human Development Index (HDI), Gender-related Development Index (GDI) and Gender Empowerment Measurement (GEM).

"The national HDI increases each year, and we are now ranked 107th out of 177 countries. Our GDI, measured by improvements in education, health and economy, is also on the rise, and we are ranked 94th out of 177 in this aspect," she said.

"On the GEM, measured by women's participation in economics, politics and decision making, we continue to see improvements and are currently rated 62.2."

She added the quota of 30 percent of women in legislative and political positions would be safeguarded with the enactment of two recent laws on political parties and general elections.

Meutia said she expected the national meeting to bring about concrete actions to improve institutions' abilities to support women in all aspects of development throughout the country.

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