PUTRAJAYA, Feb 20 — Programmes for this year’s Women’s Day celebration will have four main thrusts - substantive, community engagement, contest and visibility, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
She said 17 programmes have been outlined for implementation at all levels throughout the country between March 1 and 12, with the national-level celebration to be opened by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on March 6 here.
Asked on the possibility of the prime minister making a special announcement that would bring good news to women in the country, Dr Wan Azizah, who is also Women, Family and Community Development Minister, said she would not rule out the possibility.
She said considering the Covid-19 threat, hand sanitizer would be provided at strategic locations at venues for the Women’s Day celebration and programmes.
"For this year’s celebration, we are expecting less crowd (due to Covid-19)," she told a media conference on the 2020 Women’s Day celebration at the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry here yesterday.
Among the programmes and activities that have been planned for the 2020 Women’s Day is a convention by women’s non-governmental organisations, Young Women Bootcamp and "purple walk".
Dr Wan Azizah said a programme, known as ‘Malaysian Women Unite', will also be carried out to serve as a platform for women to work together to help those in need.
Further information on the programme can be obtained at www.malaysianwomenunite.org, she added.
In another development, she said the government hoped to increase the percentage of women in the employment sector, currently at 54 per cent, to 56 per cent.
"The supporting infrastructure for women in the workforce such as the sexual harassment bill and childcare need to be improved," she said, adding that the sexual harassment bill was expected to be tabled during the upcoming March Parliament sitting.
— Bernama
