10 potential women leaders to attend leadership workshop this year

KUCHING: A leadership and decision-making workshop for women will be held this year to train 10 potential women leaders.

According to Minister of Welfare, Community Well Being, Women, Family and Child Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah, the workshop would be conducted by the state Women and Family Council (MWKS) and Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Women Wing’s high council.

“The recent retreat conducted by PBB Women Wing has helped us to identify several potential leaders to be trained at the workshop,” she said when several members of the state Foreign Ministry office called on her at her office in Wisma Wanita here yesterday.

“MWKS will come up with the training module which will cover leadership and decision-making aspects. This programme will be held until 2020.

“The state government is serious in increasing the number of women leaders and decision-makers, as the percentage is still way behind compared to Peninsular Malaysia,” she said.

“In 2011,only 12.6 per cent of women were reported to hold Grade 52 position and above,” she added.

Fatimah said that under the Sarawak Civil Service Action Plan launched in 2012, a new system for staff intake and promotion was introduced, and had shown that more women were in decisionmaking roles in the state public sector.

Fatimah also praised the visitors, who were led by the first female High Commissioner from Sarawak, Gloria Corina Peter Tiwet, and a member of Petroleum Sarawak Berhad ( Petros) Board of Directors Datin Josephine Hilary Dom.

“Both women are someone that Sarawakians can be proud of for their achievement, and we hope for more of such individuals to be produced in the future,” she said.