Indonesia's Police Chief Casts Women as Leaders of Change at Bali Global Conference

Indonesia's National Police Chief has used an international gathering in Bali to argue that women should lead change, not merely take part in it. The remarks, made at the opening of a global policing conference, place gender equality and institutional reform on the agenda of an event hosted on Indonesian soil.

What the police chief said

General Listyo Sigit Prabowo opened the 63rd International Association of Women Police (IAWP) Annual Training Conference 2026 in Bali on Sunday. The conference carries the theme "Women Leading Global Change" and, according to the reporting by Antara, highlights the importance of women's participation and leadership across various sectors.

In a statement issued the same day, Listyo put his central point plainly:

"Women are not just part of change, but they can also be leaders of change."

He said that strengthening the role of women remains relevant given the gender equality challenges facing the global community. He also expressed hope that policewomen from different countries would keep building their capacities and networks, and that differences in nationality, experience and background should not stop them from working together. His closing line was a call to action: "Together, we empower women, strengthen the police force, uphold peace, and lead global change."

The numbers behind the message

Listyo anchored his argument in a widely cited benchmark. He referred to the 2025 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report, which projects that full gender equality could still take about 123 years to achieve. In his view, that timeline calls for greater female participation and leadership across various sectors.

He then turned to the domestic picture, as reported by Antara:

• Indonesian policewomen have served since 1948.
• The National Police has more than 450,000 personnel.
• Approximately 6.2 percent, or about 29,000 members, are policewomen.

These are official figures as quoted in the statement, and they are best read as approximate. They do show how much room remains for growth in female representation, a point the police chief himself appeared to be making.

He also pointed to the HeForShe Award he received from the IAWP in 2023, which he described not only as an honour but as a reminder to keep fostering equality and expanding opportunities for policewomen to develop. He noted that the commitment continues through an annual HeForShe Award, which recognises policewomen who have achieved excellence.

Why the setting matters

The conference was opened in Bali, and it is an international training event rather than a domestic one. That gives the police chief's message a wider audience than a routine national announcement would have. The source does not provide attendance figures, the number of participating countries, the length of the programme or any economic estimate tied to the event, so none of those should be assumed.

What can be said is narrower and more defensible: Indonesia's most senior police officer chose an international stage to present the institution's stated commitment to women's leadership, and he did so with specific figures about where the force currently stands.

What the source does not tell us

It is worth being clear about the limits of this story. The report is a first-party account of remarks made by the police chief, and the commitments described are statements of intent. The source does not announce a new policy, a recruitment target, a budget or a timetable for raising the share of policewomen above the current level of about 6.2 percent.

A related Antara report, published alongside this one, carries the headline "Police chief urges businesses to report thuggery, illegal levies". The source gives us only that headline, not its contents, so we draw no conclusions from it here.

What this means for investors

This is not a property or market story, and it would be wrong to present it as a direct signal for prices, yields or demand in South Lombok. There is no figure in the source that supports such a claim, and we do not make one.

The relevance for foreign investors is indirect and qualitative. Institutional stability, credible public-safety institutions and Indonesia's visibility as a host of international professional events are part of the background against which overseas buyers form a view of the country. A stated commitment to inclusion within the police force is one small input into that picture, and it should be weighed as such: a signal of intent, not evidence of outcomes.

For readers doing due diligence on Lombok, the practical takeaways are modest:

• Treat statements as statements. The commitments here have no announced targets or dates. Track whether concrete measures follow.
• Keep the focus on fundamentals. Legal structure, title checks and realistic yield assumptions matter far more to a purchase decision than any single conference speech. Foreigners cannot hold freehold (Hak Milik) in Indonesia, and the routes that do exist, leasehold, Hak Pakai or a PT PMA holding HGB, should be reviewed with a licensed notary.
• Follow the follow-through. If the police chief's remarks lead to published targets or reforms, those would be worth reporting on later.

HubLombok is the editorial arm of Samudra Villas, an active developer in South Lombok. That relationship is disclosed here because it shapes what we cover, not what we conclude.

The next real test will not be the speeches at the conference but whether the stated commitment to women's leadership is later matched by measurable changes inside the force.

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