KUCHING: It is crucial to encourage and empower women to be part of the workforce particularly as leaders at the decision-making level.
“Gender inclusivity at all levels will ensure the diversity of skills and abilities which are important for the development of innovative ideas and approaches for progress in Sarawak and Malaysia,” said Welfare, Community Well-being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah at the opening ceremony of Women Leadership Training Programme held yesterday at Penview Hotel here.
“Like men, women have a range of personalities but generally they are more attuned to human factors,” she said, emphasising that women bring with them skills and a more holistic outlook which can help those under their leadership.
“When we lead, we need to use our positions to improve society,” she stressed in her speech.
Fatimah believed that women in leadership positions need to be mainstreamed and not confined to areas typically perceived as relating only to women.
She also called attention to all the relevant life experience that is lost when women are not directly involved in decision-making processes.
“Women do not have to be men in skirts to lead. Instead, we can shape the style of leadership to everyone’s benefit,” said Fatimah.
She strongly encouraged women to build each other up while empowering and enabling one another to be leaders.
“In Sarawak, our government is continuously working to uplift the status of women. We give high priority to increasing the number of women in the workforce as well as retaining them,” she stated.
“Women’s participation in the workforce has increased over the years in Sarawak. Based on the Department of Statistics Malaysia’s (DOSM) 2017 report, 52.1 per cent of our workers in Sarawak are women,” said Fatimah.
In a similar thread of underlining women’s progress, she also commended that universities have recorded a high level of female enrolment since 2010, citing that in 2017, DOSM recorded that the ratio of females enrolled in higher education was 53.4 per cent compared to males at 46.6 per cent.
Fatimah highlighted that advocating for 30 per cent of women at the decision-making level is one of the key agendas of the Women and Family Department of Sarawak (JWKS). Thirty is considered to be the level of critical mass for women to make an impact.
The Women Leadership Training Programme therefore aims to prepare women with such high potential to take up leadership roles when the opportunity arises by equipping them with the necessary knowledge and skills.
The programme commenced yesterday, and it will go on until July 27. It is organised by the department with the support of the Sarawak Women and Family Council (MWKS).
Also in attendance at the opening ceremony were director of the Islamic Education Services Bureau Datuk Dr Adi Badiozaman Tuah, JWKS director Noriah Ahmad, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) Women chief Datuk Seri Doris Sophia Brodie, Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Women chief Kho Teck Wan, and Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Women’s deputy chief Datin Angelina Ujang.
