VARIA RANAH 2023 Empowering Women Leadership In Malaysia MADANI Way: Government Sector the Twelfth Malaysia Plan (2021-2025), its efforts will be focused on promoting gender equality, increasing economic participation and elevating the role of women in decision making levels. Malaysia has also embedded its pledge in the chapter to provide a better environment for women including better protection and safety through reviewing relevant laws and incorporate gender perspective in policy making. Meanwhile, at the international stage, Malaysia has pledged for its membership of the Human Rights Council for the term 2022-2024 in achieving gender quality and women’s empowerment besides addressing climate change (United Nations, 2023). This is in line with the IWD’s 2022 theme, ‘Gender equality today for a sustainability of tomorrow’, to recognize the contributions and the rights of women and girls, and also the importance of their participation and leadership towards creating a more sustainable Malaysia. In 2023, United Nations promotes IWD theme ‘’DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality’’. This is to bring more women and other marginalized groups into technology in which it can increase the awareness of women and girls of their rights in the digital spaces and reducing online and ICT-facilitated gender-based violence. Malaysia has no doubt to support and ensuring women’s equal access and opportunity to participate in the digital economy that in line with Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint. Among those initiatives outlined were Empowering Women in Cyber Risk Management Programme (Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint, 2021). B. Positioning Women in Decision Making Levels i) Women Representative in Decision Making Levels in Broad Sectors According to Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Report (2004), women were significantly underrepresented in the higher levels of management and decision making levels at Premier Grade C level and above as shown in the Table 1 and Table 2. Table 1: Personnel in the Public Sector According to Sex and Agency (excluding the Police and Armed Forces) 2000 Source: Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, CEDAW Report (2004) Meanwhile, the number of female candidates elected to Parliament has increased gradually since 1986 to 2000 for both Lower House and State Assemblies. Unfortunately, in the period of year 1990 to 2000, the number of women ministers remained constant with only two women representing the Federal level in the Cabinet. This is shown as Table 3. 113
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