It has been more than two months that the people of Indonesia have had to stay at home, work from home, and do all activities at home. This is due to COVID-19, which until now continues to increase in positive cases. Many have been affected, including women who have to take care of the households more because all their family members are at home, career women who have to work from home, women who have to be smart in managing finances because the heads of the households have to be laid off or have their salary cut, and other impacts.

The webinar organized by @masukunpad and @knowlej.id presented an inspiring female figure and the Chairperson of the West Java Province PKK DP, Ibu Atalia, to share information related to women’s empowerment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The webinar was attended by almost 1,000 participants who accessed it via the YouTube Knowlej.id live broadcast and discussions via the zoom application. The webinar was guided by a moderator who is the 2020 West Java Reading Ambassador, Rohman Hikmat.

The opening of the webinar by Ibu Atalia was amazing by presenting data on COVID-19 cases that occurred in Indonesia, especially in West Java. This certainly made the participants immediately enthusiastic with the many questions that came in related to the materials provided. Furthermore, the problems that occurred due to COVID-19 were explained, especially the impacts on women. Some of the problems mentioned included insufficient financial income due to salary cuts and workers being laid off, women being required to become educators because students were learning from home while there were no specific guidelines for teaching at home, women having to manage the households more because all family members were at home, and other impacts.

Women’s empowerment can be done from various aspects to solve the problems that occur. Things that can be done in the field of education are by creating learning modules that pay attention to aspects of student development so that students can continue to follow the learning process. Things that can be done to empower women can also be through economic provision, this is also in accordance with the purpose of this program, namely to empower mothers in Nanggerang Village to process their agricultural products, which will later be processed in the form of food for iftar to be given to students who are still trapped in Jatinangor (Jatinangor is an educational area that houses Unpad, ITB, IKOPIN, and IPDN).

The webinar was closed with a quote from Ir. Soekarno about women, “If women are good, then the country will be glorious. But if women are bad, then the country will collapse” – Ir. Soekarno. Therefore, women must be empowered because they can make the country glorious. That is how big the influence of women is in the progress of the nation. Women Empowered, Indonesia Glorious!