By Nur Azyyati Omar
SHAH ALAM, June 23 — The state government, through Wanita Berdaya Selangor, has ramped up efforts to empower women through a memorandum of understanding with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) today.
The cooperation aims to prevent discrimination and achieve gender equality through the more comprehensive and systematic Gender Observatory programme.
State executive councillor for women empowerment and welfare Anfaal Saari said the deal is important to boost women participation and leadership in Malaysia’s democratic arena.
“According to the gender gap index in Malaysia, we are still lagging. The national score is 0.096 while the ideal level is 1. This proves the need for more efforts,” she said during a press conference at the State Secretariat Building here.
Also present were Selangor State Legislative Assembly Speaker Lau Weng San, Menteri Besar Selangor (Incorporated) CEO Dato’ Saipolyazan M. Yusop, and WFD Asia-Pacific and Americas director Matthew Hedges.
The deal was made under the Women Political Leadership (Phase II) programme from May to August. It encompasses:
— Design of research on gender and democracy
— Consultation and data dialogue labs
— Monitoring of policy progress
— Advocacy of public policy
This programme is in line with the Selangor Women’s Policy, which was formed under the First Selangor Plan and Malaysia Madani values, especially to elevate women’s roles in society, politics, and the economy.
