0 NATIONAL WOMEN POLICY

National Women Policy

Background

Women comprise nearly half the population. Their contributions whether as wives, mothers and workers with salaries in the nation and the country is very important. They not only play a major role in the formation of future generations to forget even the important economic resource.

Currently, they represent one third of the total labor force. In terms of labor participation, the participation of women increased from 37.2 percent in 1970 to 46.7 percent in 1990. In the rural sector and agriculture, women continue to be an important factor. Employment of women has increased substantially in the manufacturing sector, particularly in tekstail and electronics. In the services sector such as community service, social, private and public sectors, as well as increasing women's participation. Women also have long played an active role in national politics. They are a powerful group of voters, and often played the role to be the voters.

The Government has long recognized the significant contributions of women in national development. Therefore the government is always encouraging their participation in the development process by opening opportunities for venturing into the wider social, economic and political. Some institutions have been established to integrate women into mainstream development. National Advisory Council on Integration of Women in Development (NACIWID) in the Prime Minister was established in 1976 to translate the global action plan on women in developing countries.

In 1983, the Secretariat for Women's Affairs (HAWA) was established to monitor and evaluate the services provided by public and private sectors for the benefit of women. Apart from acting as the main information center on women's affairs, HAWA also serves as the secretariat to NACIWID.

Delivery system support services for women has been further strengthened through the activities of government organizations such as the Community Development Department (Kemas), Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA), Rubber Industry Smallholders Development of Small-holders Rubber Company (RISDA) and several Regional Development Authority. The establishment of a trust non-governmental agencies, namely Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) has also helped increase the participation of women especially in rural areas in the activities of non-farm economy.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are also playing an important role towards increasing women's participation in economic activities and social.

NGOs like the National Council of Women's Organizations (NCWO), Association of Women (Wl), the Organization of Islamic Women Action (PERTIWI), Women's Aid Organisation of the Islamic and the Islamic Women's Welfare and women's organizations have been providing a variety of other development programs and the nature jayadiri facilities and other support.
 
Rational

Recognising the different roles of women in family, community, economic and political realities, the government recognizes that specific strategies be developed to effectively involve women in development process in order to optimize the potential of women. Concerted efforts should be taken to help women participate in the activities of the major social and economic. This requires a policy to provide guidance and direction in all development efforts to the interests and participation of women is neglected, and integrate their contributions in the development process.

Realizing this the government has formulated the National Policy on Women (NVP) in 1989. This policy to clarify the government's eagerness to assist the participation of women in national development more meaningful. NVP provides guidelines for integrating the contributions of women in national development process.

The objectives of the National Women's Association are:

(i) to ensure a fair sharing between men and women in the ownership of resources and information, as well as get the opportunity and benefit from development and


(ii) to integrate women into all sectors of national development in line with their capabilities and their needs for the purpose of improving the quality of life, eradicate poverty, eliminate ignorance and illiteracy, and ensuring the country to be peaceful and prosperous.


Implementation strategies

To assist the planning and implementation of the National Women's Association (NVP), a number of strategies designed to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, consistency and uniformity of policies and actions like the following:

(A) Strengthening the Unit of Women's Affairs (HAWA) The National Machinery for the advancement of women's national machinery is HAWA now placed under the Ministry of National Unity and Social Development. It is fair HAWA enhanced power and status by creating a relationship with each ministry, entered the coordinator in each state that can act more effectively on women's affairs.


(B) Orienting Policy and Action Agencies in order to include process design, implementation and integration of programs CONTROl Women. In formulating policies, laws, regulations and programs of any sector or agency, consideration must be made about the contribution and its implications for women; impact and negative effects on women must be avoided. A system of coordinating and monitoring of comprehensive programs should be created to prevent negative effects and also to identify obstacles and problems, both in terms of law, nor in practice, so that appropriate action can be taken to overcome them. All development programs must have a strategy that would benefit women, the participation of women at all levels, from the planning to the evaluation, at national and local level must be guaranteed.


(C) Education and Training for the Administration of the Government on Women's Issues. To raise awareness and commitment of institutions and agencies, gender sensitivity training program at various stages of gender sentisizing be held. Training programs on women and development continued to be held for civil servants.


(D) Involvement of Non-Government Bodies. The government should try to involve all non-governmental organizations and voluntary bodies in the programs and actions of women. Financial, technical, advisory and institutions continue to be allocated to women's associations to promote and enhance their services.


(E) Eradication of Discrimination and Taking Action Firm Specific measures should be taken to eliminate discrimination against women. Weaknesses in the law to guarantee women's rights should be repaired. Special focus should be directed to less developed areas in the rural areas, women are not helpless and disabled, and women are given opportunities for education.


(F) promote and coordinate research The Women's Issues Recognizing the lack of data and information on the status of women, the government should encourage and assist research and studies on women. In addition, the government shall ensure that all data and information collected by various government agencies and the sort-separated items of information by gender.


(G) The provisions of the Government Budget should ensure that ministries and agencies concerned to use the provisions that have been approved to modify the program of action to meet women in development.


Sectoral Action Plan

(A) of the National Machinery for the Integration of Women in Development


(i) HAWA shall have a working relationship with all other Ministries. It should act as a central coordinating, monitoring and processing of issues to be submitted to NACIWID to get views, advice and recommendations for action by governments and other parties concerned;


(ii) Efforts to strengthen HAWA should include training programs for officers and staff of the secretariat to HAWA will be more efficient and dynamic and


(iii) the financial allocation of duties and functions appropriate to a wider HAWA is to be determined.
 
(B) Health


(i) Establish a national health policy that takes into account the needs and health status of women. The concept of comprehensive health should include aspects of physical health, mental and emotional;


(ii) A mechanism should be established to facilitate the participation of various sectors to ensure the dissemination of health services equally in all areas, and determine effective and efficient operations in line with local priorities;


(iii) Encourage the development of science and practice of modern and traditional;


(iv) To implement an effective policy on the collection and use of drugs by involving all parties, and layers


(v) To have the law to provide protection to the patients of the parties are not responsible in providing treatment and medications. Victims of rape and violence must have protection from publicity that they undermine the dignity and individuality, and


(vi) Review the laws existing, or enact new laws to protect women's jobs that would be harmful to your health.
 

(C) Education and Training


 (i) Destroyed pictures of demeaning and
images of women;


(ii) facilitate the participation of women in areas of interest;


(iii) Convincing women to participate in training opportunities for involvement in the field of science and modern technology;


(iv) Submission of family education in all education courses and career training for men and women;


(v) Review of policy making and implementation tasks to ensure that institutional discrimination against women is not practiced;


(vi) To widen the opportunities for vocational training for women and recognizing women's skills in training and employment;


(vii) emphasize adult education institutions and lifelong educational opportunities for women to continue to develop their knowledge and skills and


(viii) private institutions should be monitored so they do not continue to discriminate against women or to maintain the humiliating images of women. National Policy on Women should cover all sectors, both government and non-governmental organizations.
 
(D) Law
 

(i) review and update laws are less effective;

(ii) To involve women in the drafting of the law;

(iii) Providing advice and complaint bureau is easily accessible to women;

(iv) To provide knowledge about individual rights by law;

(v) Enact legislation protective of domestic violence, and exploitation in employment termination and for victims of rape and violence, and

(vi) Establish family law is fair to preserve and defend the rights of mother and for settlement of family disputes fairly and humanely.
 

 (E) Work
(i) Enhanced participation of women in employment, social, economic and political;
(ii) It should be equitable sharing of the benefits of development;
(iii) should be increased employment opportunities, especially for women who are poor and have no source of subsistence search;
(iv) There must be a 'job description' for all types of employment and wage determination accordingly, without distinction of sex; 

(v) should be legal protection for all types of work;
(vi) Need to practice the principle of equal pay for equal work and
(vii) should be eliminated discrimination against women in promotion opportunities, advanced training and decision making.
  

(F) Politics 

(i) The Government shall provide the legal and administrative to ensure full participation of women in national politics, and to increase the recruitment, nomination and position of women in policy decisions at the national, state and local governments to achieve fair representation and 

(ii) The Government shall also determine the support for the emergence of more women into the legislative and the executive in Parliament, State Assemblies, Local Government and other bodies.
  

(G) Media
 

(i) increase the involvement of women in all aspects of media, such as policy development and program planning services, penggendalian development projects;
(ii) carry out gender analysis of all programs in order to track the participation of women as producers, as consumers of mass media and media effects all recipients;
(iii) erodes the opinions and negative effects on women in the advertising program and published opinions and
(iv) Using the influence of the media to foster positive attitudes and values towards women and their contributions.
  

(H) Religion
 

 (i) obtain the views of women in the verdict form that involves women and women's issues;
(ii) encourage the participation of women in all religious activities;
(iii) Establish a discussion between the various religions in an effort to achieve mutual understanding; 

(iv) make religion as the basis for the modernization of multi-ethnic society, and
(v) Creating a healthy life-sharing among women and men.
 

(I) Culture

 

(i) The participation of women in the arts to pay attention to develop it;
(ii) facilities and encouragement should be given to women to participate in all the arts and cultural activities;
(iii) Discrimination in the field of arts and culture should be eliminated; 

(iv) Women's participation in the Consultative Council on National Culture should be upgraded
(v) The practice of involving women in 'tokenism' or like a lip ditangga dismissed.

Close
NVP drafting reflects the government's eagerness to improve women's participation in the development of more effective, systematic and meaningful. Given that women play an important role both inside and outside the home and an important economic resource, the government's objective is to make women as equally important partners in nation building.

FYI : this article was took at....  Pusat Maklumat Rakyat