Constraints achieving target of 20% women decision maker
TAWAU: Sabah will face constraints in achieving the 20 per cent involvement of women as decision makers if this group does not change its attitude and remains negative, said Health and People's Well-Being Assistant Minister Norazlinah Arif.
She said the state government was now making efforts to achieve the target, including selecting women at the village top management level and encouraging them to be active in politics.
“Sabah can only chase 20 per cent but we actually want to achieve 50 per cent women as policy makers but there are constraints because we not only need the quantity (of women) but also quality.
“Women today must change their way of thinking especially in politics and always have an open attitude and not be afraid of competition which is a positive thing,” she said at the closing ceremony of the Gender in Community Development Workshop, Tawau zone, held here yesterday.
Norazlina said the issue that women cannot be village chief because they may find it hard to command respect if there is an incident is just a public perception.
“So, our job as a woman is to prove that this is just a stigma and that we can work well and maybe even better than men,” she remarked, adding that in her Kunak area, there are five women village heads out of 33 village heads.
“When I touched on women, it is actually a small role for women to empower more women in administration and to ensure the aspirations and new government policy of 20 percent of female involvement in decision-making positions is achieved,” she said.
“We can see how important the involvement of women and how the new government is trying to help women achieve equality, so this workshop is very useful to ensure that all men and women get knowledge for their daily tasks. It is useful in dealing with all issues of society in the broader scope of men and women,” she said.
Norazlina added it is important for all officers involved to understand the respective genders in any administration and to value any issue as a free person from the perspective of either genders.
The two-day workshop organized by the Women Welfare Department was participated by 90 Community Development Leader Units from Tawau, Lahad Datu, Kunak and Semporna at a hotel here.
Norazlina said through the workshop, it is hoped that it will change the current perception on gender and the genders' role in the current challenging environment, which the government has given attention on gender equality so that the development of women can be stepped up in line with the development of men.
She said the development achieved by women is the success of the government's effort in addressing gender issues, especially overcoming obstacles that prevent women development in the past.
The assistant minister expressed appreciation of the efforts by the Sabah Women's Affairs Department in promoting educational programs to give awareness, experience and understanding on gender issues among leaders, and hoped that the UPPM members that participated in the workshop will understand what they learnt and revalue their past perception on gender role in the family and community.
With the awareness and understanding on gender role, she said the feeling of respect between each other will contribute to the development process.