UNS Promotes Gender Equality through the Women’s Mentoring Program by Girl Up UNS

Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) has reaffirmed its strong commitment to promoting gender equality and empowering women in higher education. One of the concrete manifestations of this commitment is through the establishment and support of the Girl Up UNS community, a student organization dedicated to capacity building, leadership development, and advocacy for young women on campus.

Gender equality remains a key concern in the education sector, where women often face challenges in leadership and representation. Recognizing this issue, UNS supports the presence of student communities such as Girl Up UNS to provide a safe and inclusive space for female students to develop their potential and engage constructively in gender advocacy.

Girl Up UNS actively organizes a range of programs, including seminars, discussions, workshops, and social campaigns, focused on raising awareness about gender equality and women’s empowerment. Through these activities, the community serves not only as a platform for education but also as a mentoring and peer-support network that encourages female students to share experiences, strengthen their capacities, and collaborate across disciplines.

Members of the community come from various faculties and cohorts within UNS, reflecting inclusivity and interdisciplinary engagement. Through its official Instagram account, @girlup.uns, the community consistently promotes key themes such as women’s empowerment, breaking gender stereotypes, self-confidence, and leadership mentoring.

In addition, Girl Up UNS collaborates with the global Girl Up Movement under the United Nations Foundation, thereby strengthening its position as part of a global network dedicated to empowering young women.

The mentoring programs conducted by Girl Up UNS are part of UNS’s concrete efforts to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 5: Gender Equality, under the indicator of providing structured women’s mentoring schemes for female university students.

Through various mentoring and educational initiatives, Girl Up UNS contributes to creating a gender-responsive, inclusive, and women-led academic environment. The program produces outputs such as leadership training, gender equality campaigns, and public discussions on women’s issues, while the expected outcomes include increased gender awareness, the establishment of women’s mentoring networks, and greater participation of female students in leadership and advocacy activities on campus.

According to 2024 academic data, the number of women starting a degree at UNS reached 25,329. Of this total, at least 10 percent, or approximately 2,533 female students, have participated in women’s mentoring schemes facilitated by Girl Up UNS and similar programs. This figure demonstrates UNS’s strong commitment to ensuring that access to mentoring and leadership development is widely available among female students.

This level of participation also highlights that women’s mentoring programs at UNS are not symbolic initiatives but active, measurable efforts that have tangible impacts on building confidence, social engagement, and leadership capacity among women students in various fields.

Through these initiatives, UNS reaffirms its commitment to being a university that prioritizes women’s empowerment and gender equality. By supporting the Girl Up UNS community, the university not only enhances the academic development of female students but also strengthens their capacity as agents of change in promoting fairness and gender equality both on campus and in the wider society.

Source : https://www.instagram.com/girlup.uns/?hl=id