5 strategies from ROSMAH on how to empower women

NEW YORK - DATIN Seri Rosmah Mansor yesterday outlined, at a United Nations meeting, five policies and strategies that have helped Malaysian women, particularly in rural areas, improve their economic wellbeing.

Speaking at the First Ladies Global Call to Action Conference on women and girls’ financial health, the wife of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Malaysian women had greatly benefited from the country’s economic programmes to alleviate poverty. The five strategies are to:

EMPOWER rural women by bringing jobs and industries to them;

ENCOURAGE men and women in the rural areas to own land through Felda and other schemes;

PROVIDE education and training for women to secure higher paying jobs and to embark on entrepreneurship;

PROVIDE access to capital, particularly micro-credit facilities. Among the significant ones are Fund for Small Entrepreneurs (Tekun), Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia, Rural Economy Financing Scheme, 1Azam Small Business Programme, as well as Women Entrepreneurs Programme for single mothers and women from low income households; and,

PROVIDE facilities that would link rural development to urban growth. Rural Transformation Centres (RTCs) that have been set up to provide market access to rural businesses, allowing those in the agricultural industry to improve their business opportunities and income through the RTCs by cutting through the age-old problem of middlemen.

Rosmah said to ensure financial health, economic empowerment must be accompanied by access to quality education and health services throughout a woman’s life cycle.

“This is the approach used by Malaysia since independence in 1957. The government, under successive leaderships, has always acknowledged the significant role of women in the socio-economic development of the country.” -NST