TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi will visit Afghanistan early 2020 to reaffirm Indonesia's commitment to building sustainable peace in the South Asian nation.

Women's empowerment should be given full attention in peace-building efforts in Afghanistan, the minister said on the sidelines of a Dialogue of the Role of women in Building and Sustaining Peace: Women as Agent of Peace and Prosperity, held in Jakarta Friday.

"I have seen the determination of Afghani women to unite voices and demand peace in Afghanistan," she said.

The determination was reflected in a national consensus reached by the Afghani women. Marsudi considered the consensus as a brave move to create lasting peace in Afghanistan.

"And Indonesia wants to contribute more to this noble effort," she stated.

Through the dialog participated in by 38 Afghani women, Indonesia wanted to strengthen cooperation by organizing projects and program of capacity building to build and maintain peace in Afghanistan.

Indonesia and Afghanistan should identify concrete steps to promote the role of women through inclusive policies and to meet women's needs.

The policies could include women's empowerment in the economic field, protection of women's rights, and adequate support from men.

"If we want to invest for peace, we must invest in women," Marsudi said.

Afghani women must promote a culture of peace and tolerance which could become an integral approach to prevent violence and conflict.

Women must also help each other and empower themselves, she added.

The Indonesian first female foreign minister reaffirmed that Indonesia would always support peace efforts in Afghanistan.

Indonesia has been actively discussing with the Afghanistan government, Taliban and several partner countries such as the United States, Pakistan, Germany and Norway, involved in the conflicts in Afghanistan.

Decades of ongoing conflict, political instability, drought and economic chaos have left Afghanistan as one of the world’s poorest and most unstable nations.

Afghanistan is also the world’s second-largest source of refugees, with 2.5 million people displaced outside the country.

ANTARA