Nurfika Osman – Despite the introduction of new legislation eight years ago, working mothers still face barriers in attempting to juggle the pressures of work and the challenges of raising children, particularly newborns.

Speaking ahead of today's Mother's Day, Frida Harni Attila, the mother of a 9-month-old girl, told the Jakarta Globe she was disappointed the trading company she worked for in South Jakarta did not have a nursery.

"I cannot breast-feed my baby," Frida said. "The government recommends that mothers breast-feed their babies for six months, but we only have three months for maternity leave. This is strange."

"I wanted to breast-feed my baby for six months because I know it's good for the baby's immune system," she said. "The government should review its laws if it wants to support working mothers."

Nurhandayanti, a working mother with two elementary school-aged children, said that though the 2003 Law on Manpower should enable women to breast-feed babies at work, most offices lacked the required facilities. "The facts are far different from the law," she said.

Sri Danti, a senior official from the State Ministry for Women's Empowerment and Child Protection, acknowledged that the law remained difficult to implement.

"[Employers] always argue that they do not have the budget or room to support working mothers," Danti said. "Our officials are not sensitive to gender issues and we keep pushing them to provide the facilities."

She added that more than 40 percent of Indonesian women were in the workforce in 2008, an increase of 5 percent from 2003.

She said the State Ministry for Women's Empowerment and Child Protection, the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, and the Ministry of Health had implemented the law.

The State Ministry for Women's Empowerment and Child Protection has successfully pushed six other ministries to implement a gender-responsive budget system, a tool to achieve gender equality by balancing the interests of both sexes.

Danti said the policy was introduced because Indonesia has "a homogenous budget system that is not effective in addressing the needs of both genders."

In addition to the State Ministry for Women's Empowerment and Child Protection, the education, finance, public works, agriculture and health ministries, and the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) have implemented the budget system. All other ministries are expected to join the program by 2011.