Yohana Susana Yembise (born 1 October 1958) is an Indonesian academician and politician who served as Indonesia's Minister of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection in

Joko Widodo Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), popularly known as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician and businessman who is the 7th and current president of Indonesia. Elected in July 2014, he was the first Indonesian president not to come from an elite ...

's Working Cabinet.

Biography

Early life and education

Yembise was born in the city of

Manokwari Manokwari is a coastal town and the capital of the Indonesian province of West Papua. It is one of only seven provincial capitals of Indonesia without a city status. It is also the administrative seat of Manokwari Regency. However, under pro ...

, then part of

Netherlands New Guinea Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea ( nl, Nederlands-Nieuw-Guinea, id, Nugini Belanda) was the western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas territory of the Kingdo ...

, on 1 October 1958. The second child of eleven siblings, Yembise's father was a civil servant for

Nabire Regency Nabire Regency is one of the regencies (''kabupaten'') in the Indonesian province of Central Papua. It covers an area of 12,010.65 km2, and had a population of 129,893 at the 2010 Census and 169,136 at the 2020 Census, comprising 87,688 males and ...

. Yembise was first educated in

Jayapura Jayapura (formerly Dutch: ''Hollandia'') is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of Papua. It is situated on the northern coast of New Guinea island and covers an area of . The city borders the Pacific Ocean and Yos Sudarso ...

and later studied in public high schools in

Nabire Nabire is a town in the Indonesian province of Central Papua, at the western end of New Guinea. The town is the administrative seat of the Nabire Regency, and has been designated to be the administrative capital of the new province. It is served by ...

, and was involved in a student exchange to Canada as a senior high schooler. After completing high school, Yembise went to

Cenderawasih University Cenderawasih University ( id, Universitas Cenderawasih) is a university in Jayapura, Papua province, Indonesia. The university is the leading educational institution in the province. The university has faculties in economics, law, teacher trai ...

and studied English education, earning her bachelor's degree in 1985. She later went to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and earned a diploma from the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization - Regional English Language Center (SEAMEO RELC). Further on, she studied at

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

for her education masters, graduating in 1994 and later a PhD from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

's University of Newcastle in 2007.

Academic career

She became a lecturer at

's faculty of education. She was awarded a doctoral professorship in syllabus design and material development as the first female Papuan to become a professor in Indonesia on November 2012. In 2011, she was selected as a member of a committee awarding the Australian Development Scholarship for Indonesia. Yembise noted that her team at Cenderawasih was "mapping out the number of highly educated women in Papua and designing positions for them".

Politics and ministry

Yembise ran as the regent of

Biak Numfor Regency Biak Numfor Regency is one of the regencies (''kabupaten'') in Papua Province of Western New Guinea in northeastern Indonesia. Geography The regency consists two of the three largest members of the Schouten Islands archipelago at the northern en ...

in 2013 as an independent candidate, but was unsuccessful. In an interview, Yembise remarked that many voters liked her but had already committed to candidates who provided funds for construction of houses of worship and others, and added that she was "failed by money". On 26 October 2014, newly elected president

appointed and swore in Yembise as the Minister of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection, replacing Linda Amalia Sari. Yembise became the first female minister originating from Papua in the Indonesian government. Yembise dubbed her program "Three Ends" - which included ending domestic violence and human trafficking in addition to ending inequality of economic access to women.

Personal life

Yembise is married to Leo Danuwira. The couple has three children, including two daughters who studied abroad. She is a Christian.

References

{{Authority control 1958 births People from Manokwari Living people Women government ministers of Indonesia Working Cabinet (Joko Widodo) University of Newcastle (Australia) alumni Simon Fraser University alumni Cenderawasih University alumni Indonesian Christians Papuan people 21st-century Indonesian women politicians 21st-century Indonesian politicians