SEMPORNA: The State Government will remain committed in empowering women’s achievements at the grassroots level to enable their contributions to the country’s progress and development.
Gagasan Rakyat Sabah Wanita Chief Datuk Redonah Bahanda said various programmes and initiatives are being carried out to ensure that the relevant groups can be given the opportunities that are available.
“This includes the Young Women’s Leadership Academic Programme (AkWan) organised by the Sabah Women’s Development Council and the Sabah Women’s Affairs Department,” she said during the Gagasan Rakyat Sabah Wanita Semporna division meeting at Fook Siew Semporna Hall, here, Sunday.
Redonah said it was important for all parties to work together with the State Government to improve the capabilities of women in Sabah.
“Today we see that women’s political dominance recorded the lowest score, which is 0.1, signifying that women are still far behind men in the positions of ministers, members of parliament and assemblymen.
“The fact is that women make up 48.5 percent of the country’s total population of 32.7 million.
“If their potential is fully leveraged, they will be able to contribute and participate in development efforts in economic, political, cultural and social aspects effectively,” she said.
In that regard, she said the most important basic step is to raise awareness among women themselves of how much they need to be ready to change and improve their own achievements.
Redonah also thanked Chief Minister Datuk Seri Haji Hajiji Noor for acknowledging the services and role of women in the administration and management of an organisation.
She said the opportunities and trust given by Hajiji to women shows that he is an open-minded leader who does not discriminate women’s roles in administrative affairs.
“This is the trust given by our Chief Minister, for appointing a woman as Kota Kinabalu Mayor for the first time in history and Datuk Nor Asiah Mohd Yusof being appointed as State Attorney.
“This is proof that our Chief Minister does not see gender differences and is open-minded in accepting the role and involvement of women,” she said.
— Noor Zafira Zayn