KUCHING, March 20 — More women leaders are needed to realise the aspirations under the Post Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030 and drive Sarawak’s economic growth.
Minister of Women, Childhood and Family Development Datuk Sri Fatimah Abdullah said women leaders from all backgrounds need to be better equipped with knowledge on digitalisation and technology while officiating Sarawak Women of Tomorrow 2022 Bootcamp jointly organised by the state ministry, Women Leadership Foundation and Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd at a local hotel here yesterday.
She pointed out the lack of women representation at higher positions of decision-making across the world.
“From corporate boards, courts to political leadership, the lack of women representation will impede the progress in reducing salary gap, humanitarian aid and discrimination of all aspects,” she said.
Fatimah was of the opinion that many women graduates were not always given the chance to serve at high positions or given high salaries. She quoted the Malaysia Statistics Department report on July 14, 2021 which showed 5.9 per cent disparity in salary for women compared with male counterparts.
“As minister-in-charge, I feel that the earlier we understand the issue related to the lack of women representation at leadership level, the faster we can move the society forward as a whole.”
As a result, Fatimah said the federal government had announced that all government-linked corporations and investment companies related to the government must have one women director by June 1, 2023 and a minimum of 30 per cent in women participation as board members of each government-linked corporation by 2030.
“At the policy level, the state government was committed to ensure more women can be promoted to the leadership level and take on C-suite positions,” she added. — Borneo Post
