PENANG’S advocacy for gender inclusiveness continues with the Wanita Bangkit programme that drew some 4,000 women at the Seberang Jaya expo site.
Caretaker Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said in his speech at the event that women had the power to shape the future of Penang.
Caretaker state social development and non-Islamic religious affairs committee chairman Chong Eng said she was encouraged by the response.
“Now, women are not afraid to speak up and they have shown they are ready to choose a state leader who will uphold women’s agenda,” she said when interviewed at her office in Komtar.
The Wanita Bangkit programme was attended by 4,000 women in Seberang Jaya. With them is Chow (centre).
Reflecting on the state’s journey to empower women in the past 10 years, Chong said the “Penang Goes Orange” programme in 2022 saw 400,000 people coming together in solidarity against any form of violence against women.
This year, 10,000 women gathered to celebrate International Women’s Day in Penang.
“When I was an MP, I realised many women were not aware they had a right to have their say in decision-making policies.
“Hence, the state adopted the Gender Inclusiveness Policy in 2019 with PWDC as the implementation agency,” she said.
Established in 2011, PWDC mainstreams gender issues into key policies and programmes.
The state has set a goal for decision-making bodies to achieve the 40:40:20 rule, whereby 40% of members are men, another 40% are women while the remaining 20% can be either women or men.
In 2017, the state implemented a policy that a minimum 30% of all members in village community management councils (MPKK) should be women. This gender proportion has now been achieved.
“Penang also pioneered the Women and Family Development Committee (JPWK) in all constituencies in 2019 to hold empowerment and family development programmes,” said Chong.
Each JPWK comprises 15 women committee members and their programmes have involved 600 female grassroots leaders each year, with a budget of RM1.7mil.
In 2020, Sidang Wanita Pulau Pinang was implemented to create a pool of women political leaders to inspire the nation.
Mother-of-two Chong takes satisfaction in seeing the substantial progress in women’s empowerment, made possible not only by the state but by 60 partners in the public and private sectors as well as non-governmental organisations.
“I’m committed to social justice and will continue ‘walking the talk’ for a long time,” she vowed.
