THE Penang Women’s Assembly (Sidang Wanita Pulau Pinang) is making its return this year with its mission of developing more future women leaders as well promoting gender equality in politics.
State executive councillor for Non-Islamic Religious Affairs and Social Development Chong Eng urged women from various backgrounds to step up and take part in the ‘Sidang Wanita 2023 Pulau Pinang’ programme. It will commence in phases from August.
“I hope individuals, like community leaders as well as those who are from the non-governmental organisations, corporate and government sectors and also entrepreneurs will be bold enough to take up the challenge,” Chong Eng said during a press conference at Komtar today.
Chong Eng also shared that, in the previous edition, the programme also received participation from a total of 34 participants outside Penang.
“They were from Selangor, Melaka, Perlis, Kedah, Perak, and Pahang and this shows the strong interest of womenfolk in gaining knowledge about women’s representation.
“So, women who aspire to advocate for the well-being of the people, come and join the programme,” she added.
Chong Eng also highlighted that women’s achievement in politics has yet to see a new dimension in terms of women’s representation in parliament.
“After the General Election (GE-14) in 2018, a new hope birthed forth, when the honourable Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah was appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister, which is the highest achievement for women in politics so far.
“However, after the recent GE-15, only a total of 32 women MP’s won their respective parliament seats.
“The percentage of women’s representation is dropping.
“During GE-14, we had 14.86% of women as parliamentarians, which then dropped to 14.4% after GE-15,” she said.
Apart from that, Chong who is also the Padang Lalang assemblyman, reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to empowering women.
“For instance, 30% of women are appointed to the Village Community Management Council (MPKK).
“The same will be done in the composition of councillors, government-linked agencies (GLC) and state assembly,” she added.
Also present was Sungai Pinang assemblyman Lim Siew Khim, who will be chairing the task force for the ‘Sidang Wanita 2023 Pulau Pinang’ programme.
Lim said just like the previous years the ‘Sidang Wanita 2023 Pulau Pinang’ will be conducted in four phases: ‘District Exploration’ (Jelajah Daerah), ‘Capacity Development Workshop’ (Bengkel Pembangunan Kapasiti) and ‘Assembly Day’ (Hari Persidangan).
“I would like to share here that the report of the Penang Women’s Assembly 2022 has been submitted to the respective state councillors’ offices.
“The issues and proposed improvements raised during the assembly have been documented and included in the report.
“The Penang Women’s Development Corporation (PWDC) has also printed 1,000 copies of the ‘Penang Women’s Assembly 2022’ and will be also distributing them to other states as a knowledge sharing.
“I hope the publication will inspire other states to initiate Women’s Assembly to further enhance women’s leadership in politics. It is also available at PWDC’s website, www.pwdc.org.my,” Lim added.
Those who are interested to participate in the programme can register via https://forms.gle/3FmrAs3qSKP2KwqP8, or log onto www.pwdc.org.my or visit PWDC’s Facebook page.
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix by Noor Siti Nabilah Noorazis