THE Women’s Centre for Change (WCC) lauded the state government for the successful smart partnership between them which was instrumental in improving the lives of women and children.
Its president Annie Yeap said since 2009, the state government has been assisting the WCC’s Pusat Perkhidmatan Wanita (PPW/WCC Seberang) financially.
“Realising the importance of having a service centre in Seberang Perai, the PPW was established in 2009 through the collaboration between WCC and the state government.
“WCC applauds the Penang government for the long-term smart partnership with a non-governmental organisation (NGO).
“We have received grants totalling RM2.31 million from the state government since 2009 to run the PPW. The continuous financial assistance has helped us to operate PPW smoothly.
“Here, we would like to also call upon other state governments in the country to emulate the Penang government by supporting NGOs’ mission,” Yeap said during the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between the state government and WCC.
Meanwhile, WCC executive director Loh Cheng Kooi said the financial support received from the state government has enabled the PPW to help over 7,000 women and children who were the victims of domestic violence and child sexual abuse.
“From 2012 onwards, the PPW has begun to collaborate with the One-Stop Crisis Center (OSCC) at Seberang Jaya Hospital, Kepala Batas Hospital and Bukit Mertajam Hospital, and recently with the Sungai Bakap Hospital.
“Apart from that, we (PPW) also train the teachers in the mainland to conduct sexual abuse prevention programmes in school.
“Similarly, we also train the medical personnel on how to handle the victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse,” Loh added.
Loh also said for the past 13 years, the PPW has reached out to nearly 20,000 members of the public through their community talks and activities.
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, our webinars attracted 15,000 social media users nationwide,” Loh added.
State executive councillor for Non-Islamic Religious Affairs and Social Development Chong Eng said the MoU was exchanged to strengthen the 13-year-long smart partnership with WCC.
“The WCC which started its operation in 1985, has a centre on the island. It later set up the PPW in Seberang Perai to cater to the needs of women and children on the mainland.
“In the beginning, we gave an annual allocation of RM150,000 to the PPW which we then increased to RM210,000.
“So, today we are signing this MoU to renew our smart partnership with the WCC as we have been working with them since 2009,” Chong Eng said.
Chong Eng also added that the state government is ready to partner with other NGOs as well.
WCC is a non-profit organisation working towards eliminating violence against women and children as well promoting as gender equality. It provides free and confidential counselling for the victims.
For more info on the services please visit https://www.wccpenang.org/
They can be reached via the WCC hotline:-
WCC Penang 011 -3108 4001 / 016-418 0342 or
WCC Seberang/Pusat Perkhidmatan Wanita) 016 439 0698 / 019 410 0698
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix by Muhamad Amir Irsyad Omar