On the 7th and 8th of October, Projek SAMA together with Bait Al Amanah (House of Trust), Pergerakan Orang Wanita Empowerment and Revolution (POWER) and Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) organized a Workshop on “Enhancing Women’s Political Representation” in Kota Kinabalu.
Sandra Sokial from the Star Newspaper covered the workshop. In the article, she explained that Sabah’s upcoming election presents an ideal opportunity for political parties to demonstrate their commitment to increasing women’s representation by fielding more female candidates in the assembly.
Since 1990, the United Nations has set a target of 30% women in decision-making roles, a goal that Sabah has yet to meet. Currently, only three out of 25 MPs (12%) and six out of 73 elected state seats (8.2%) are held by women. Political advocates are urging parties to nominate more female candidates in the upcoming election to address the significant gender imbalance.
According to Bait Al-Amanah research director, Benedict Weerasena, as of 2022, Malaysia ranks second-last in women’s representation across ASEAN, with only 13.5% of seats held by women. Globally, Malaysia ranks 151st out of 193 countries. “In Malaysia, women perform well in many sectors, except politics. It is not that we have a shortage of women with talents and capabilities, but there are insufficient male retirees from their political helms. In Sabah, it is no longer about education capacity as there are more girls than boys in universities, it is a systemic issue that needs to change. There is room for advocacy,” said Weerasena. He said there is a need for women icons to show that politics is about balance and to change the stereotype that female candidates are weak and unable to balance family and politics.
“I believe we need more women leaders to rise up and show that politics is never meant to be a male sport,” he said.
For the full article, refer to The Star Newspaper: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/10/08/sabah-election-a-key-moment-to-boost-womens-representation-says-ngo
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