Malaysia
These reforms aim to strengthen parliament at the centre of the country’s political life and make it relevant to the people it serves. The reform-focused interventions of WFD include enhancing capacity of the Parliamentary staff to support Members, providing technical support and guidance to the newly formed parliamentary committees and establishing accountable and inclusive parliamentary processes and systems.
The inclusion of women’s participation in politics is also an area that is continuing to develop in the country. As part of the broader Commonwealth Partnership for Development (CP4D) initiative, WFD is working with a local CSO to promote gender equality in Sabah and creating linkages with other CSOs as they develop advocacy strategies to raise awareness about gender issues. Low political representation of women, only 10% in the State Legislative Assembly, is a key driver of WFD’s work in Sabah.
Current Programmes
Supporting the parliamentary reform process
Drawing on the Westminster experience, WFD has conducted capacity building training and workshops for the parliamentary staff and officers from the research department share information and knowledge on relevant processes and procedures.
WFD is also providing technical expertise to the relatively new select committee system in the Malaysian Parliament to support MPs to use the parliamentary process effectively. This includes the job scope and roles for chairs and members of committees, management of issues, planning and running of meetings and division of work.
Promoting gender equality in Sabah
WFD is working in the state of Sabah to build communication and leadership skills among women to enable them to get their voices and messages for change heard by decision makers and legislators. Women participation in the state is low; there are only six women representatives (out of 60) in the State Legislative Assembly. Only one is a full minister while there are three assistant ministers in the state cabinet. In addition, there are no Sabah women to be appointed as Federal Minister.
Addressing barriers to women's political participation in the ASEAN region
The objectives of our programme advancing women's equality in ASEAN countries is to advance equality in politics and wider society in the region. We are doing this by helping to create a more enabling environment for politically active women to participate and exercise leadership in national, local and regional politics.
Contact us
United Kingdom