A number of initiatives have been put in place to increase female labour participation to 59% by 2020.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (pic) said the strategies were outlined in the country’s economic blueprint of the 11th Malaysia Plan.
“The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, together with Talent Corporation Malaysia have launched a Career Comeback Programme which is intended to increase the number of talented women returning to the workforce.
“Last May, we established the Malaysian chapter of the 30 Percent Club to help achieve our goal of women making up at least 30% of managerial and decision-making posts in the public and private sectors by 2016.
“In the coming weeks, we are going to launch a National Action Plan to Empower Single Mothers, recognising that single mothers and female-headed households are often socially and economically disadvantaged, particularly in rural areas, and that this is an issue which has to be addressed at the highest level,” he said in his speech while opening the Asean Conference on Women in Politics: Promoting Representation Through Connectivity and Innovation at Putra World Trade Centre here Saturday.
Najib said Malaysia has a proud tradition of giving rise to strong women.
“It is this tradition that we hope to strengthen for the future, increasing the number of empowered female leaders we have in our midst today, and ensuring that all women – across our region – have the same opportunities to succeed tomorrow.
“We cannot deny that we have a long way to go,” he said.
Citing examples in politics and governance, Najib said last year, only 18% of the total number of parliamentarians in Asia and 17% of government ministers were women.
He said with over two billion women in Asia today, “that simply isn’t good enough.”
Malaysia is attempting to lead this change, he added.
news source & image credits: thestar.com.my
