100-day report card: Poor marks for Rina and Siti Zailah

 

Rina Harun (right) and Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff have held the top two posts in the women, family and community development ministry since March 2020. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: The 100-day report card is out for the women, family and community development ministry, and women activists have given it poor marks.

Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh said the ministry, led by Rina Harun and her deputy Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff, had shown poor leadership and had not progressed on major issues.

The 100-day countdown began on Sept 1 when Ismail Sabri Yaakob took over as prime minister from Muhyiddin Yassin, but Rina and Siti Zailah have been in their positions since March last year.

Yeoh noted that the ministry had failed to use the RM30 million grant approved by Parliament to tackle issues like protecting children and setting up childcare centres for frontliners.

Sheela Jayabalan, who teaches law at UiTM Shah Alam, said she was dissatisfied with the ministry for its lack of progress in ending child marriage.

“It should have already been criminalised,” she said.

She added that she would like to see, before the next general election, Rina and Siti Zailah addressing the provision of holistic sex education in schools and the issue of employment for disabled people.

Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) deputy executive director Yu Ren Chung commended the ministry for continuing with efforts to address domestic violence and for allocating additional funds for survivors of abuse.

However, he questioned the implementation of initiatives in resolving these issues.

“There are no specifics on the plans and how the budget allocations will be rolled out,” he said. - FMT