Anfaal: Selangor campaign to raise awareness on gender-based violence kicks off in April.
ABOUT 14.6% or 164 childcare centres in Selangor are not registered, says state women, family empowerment, welfare and care economy committee chairman Anfaal Shaari.
As of January, she said there were 1,123 childcare centres in the state with 959 registered.
Selangor, she added, was committed to ensuring all childcare centres were registered and had implemented various strategies to reach this goal.
“For unregistered childcare centres, the state is offering grants of up to RM5,000 to help operators fund the cost of registration and compliance.
“Additionally, we have formed the Special Committee for Improvement of Care Services, which includes local authorities, state Social Welfare Department, PLANMalaysia, Health Department, Fire and Rescue Department and Economic Planning Unit.
“This committee oversees current regulations and standards, and works to identify areas for improvement,” Anfaal said, adding that the state has also issued reminders while enforcing the Child Care Centre Act 1984 (Act 308).
“To streamline the registration process, we have activated one-stop centres at state and district levels, allowing operators to easily meet the requirements set by technical agencies,” said Anfaal in reply to a question by Pang Sock Tao (PH-Kuala Kubu Baharu) during the Selangor State Assembly sitting at Bangunan Dewan Negeri Selangor in Shah Alam.
Anfaal said by the end of last year, 201 childcare centres received assistance and gained approval for registration.
Separately, in reply to a question by Mariam Abdul Rashid (PH-Meru) on domestic violence matters, Anfaal said 1,300 police reports were lodged last year.
“Out of the total, 871 involved women, 286 involved men and 143 involved children.
“To improve awareness, the state will launch a campaign against gender-based violence that will kick off in April and run until the end of the year.
“The campaign will be held in five districts with the participation of stakeholders including local authorities, police, One-Stop Crisis Centre, Health Ministry, Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) and community leaders.
“It will comprise awareness talks and mobile legal services,” she said, adding that an online campaign would also be intensified for wider reach.
Anfaal said the Selangor Gender-Based Violence Case Reference Document, which was currently in progress, was also expected to raise awareness on the issue.
Since 2022, she said the state, through the Wanita Berdaya Selangor organisation, has been holding a 16-day campaign against gender-based violence, which is observed internationally from Nov 25 to Dec 10.
