PETALING JAYA: Institut Masa Depan Malaysia (Masa) has urged the government to provide better reskilling and upskilling courses and training for women in the digital economy.
Its CEO Azril Mohd Amin said while much has been done to empower women in the digital economy, the government needs to take more proactive measures.
"According to the Women's Empowerment Statistics in Selected Domains 2021 released by the Statistics Department, the women's labour force participation rate is still low at 55.5% compared to men at 80.9%.
"Of that number, only 40.6% lead the professional and technical fields while 24% hold high positions such as legislators, senior officers and managers," he said in a statement.
Azril added that rapid development of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT) and automation also brought new challenges to women in supporting the digital agenda.
"The government needs to enhance community awareness about women’s rights and protections to strengthen their emotional and spiritual wellbeing in facing current and future challenges," he said.
This year's International Women's Day theme is "DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality" as declared by the United Nations.
At the national level, the theme "KASIH Wanita" was chosen by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry as a sign of appreciation and recognition for women's achievements in developing families, communities and the country.
