00:00Let's start. We're talking about International Women's Day 2025. So, it has expanded to five
00:08zones across Malaysia. So, it's reaching more women than ever before. So, what is your ministry's
00:14strategy to ensure this inclusivity extends beyond just participation? How can we ensure
00:20that this engagement turns into lasting empowerment, especially for women from rural
00:26and underrepresented communities? Actually, all this while we have been doing just one
00:32International Women's Day and it's always in KL. And then this time we feel that we need to engage
00:37more with people and then we have to also identify who among the women that we also need to engage.
00:44So, we hope to see more women to be heard and supported. I mean, opportunity for them because
00:51they will also be able to engage among themselves and they can share stories. So, the other women
00:56will be able to give them the clear views on certain things that they feel that may not have
01:04reached the women in other places. Women, Family and Community Development Minister Nancy Shukri
01:12said this year's International Women's Day will serve as a platform for women to share their
01:17experience and ideas on matters that affect them. This year's celebrations have already been hosted
01:24in Sarawak, Perak, Johor, Terengganu and Negeri Sembilan, a departure from the tradition of
01:30holding the event only in Kuala Lumpur. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will launch the main
01:35event at the World Trade Center in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow. So, this is the thing that we are doing
01:42for the women because we find that more women need to be updated with skills even. So, we want
01:53to make sure that the other ministries, they collaborate with us and we come up with something
02:00more lasting or even in terms of empowerment, they get better opportunities there.
02:08However, Nancy's ministry is taking it a step further through Laman Wanita centers,
02:13local hubs dedicated to women's empowerment programs.
02:18Laman Wanita where we gather all the women, you know, for those who are interested in upskilling
02:23themselves and selling their products and then sharing with friends about their, you know,
02:29their skills and the products that they have. I came across one engineer who because of COVID,
02:37she left her job and suddenly she produced frozen food, an engineer. And then, of course,
02:44being an engineer, the thinking may, I mean, it is of advantage to come up with all sorts of
02:53products just for frozen food. So, you see, the rest came to see what she's doing and they learn
03:01from her. So, this is what LAWA is all about. Although these centers are only available in
03:07Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pinang and Labuan, the ministry introduced a
03:14mobile version of the program aiming to reach women in additional states. Why we do this is
03:20because we want, we don't want the rest of the women in other states to miss it out. We need to
03:26help the women. It's because it's not just helping the women. When we help the women,
03:32you're talking about helping the family. You're talking about helping the country as well.
03:37Natasha Bust, FMT News.
Comments