PETALING JAYA: The government is committed towards ensuring that Malaysian women have equal opportunities, with their involvement in politics and the economy to serve as the main drivers.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said while capable women have been given the opportunities to contest in the elections, women are still under-represented in political spheres, which is reflected in the low number of female lawmakers.
She said the number of elected female members of parliament has increased at a moderate rate, with a 10.4 per cent increase in the two last general elections compared to 7.3 per cent in the 1995 elections.
Meanwhile, the 2004 elections saw 9.6 per cent participation of female lawmakers.
“For the Dewan Negara, the percentage women appointed as senators increased from below 20 per cent to almost 30 per cent," she said in her ministerial keynote at the ‘Women in Leadership Summit & Exhibition 2016: Impacting Agenda 2030,Transforming our Society and World', today.
In the economic field, she said the government had introduced income-generating programmes for the advancement of women including initiatives under the 11th Malaysia Plan which aims to elevate the livelihood of the B-40 group (bottom 40 per cent of households).
Rohani, at a press conference later, said that while there was an improvement in the number of women participation in politics, certain segments of society still have reservations about having women leaders.
"We see improvements when it comes to opportunities given to women candidates by political parties.
"Most voters are also more receptive about having women as their representatives.
"However there are still some who have reservations on this, so we have to also look at improving the level of awareness among the constituents when it comes to electing a female candidate," she said.