'One of its kind' women's committees set up in Penang
The Penang government has set up a "Women and Family Development Committee" (WFDC) in every state constituency, effective January this year.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who made the announcement today, said the WFDC is "one of its kind" in the country.
The Penang government has set up a Women and Family Development Committee (WFDC) in every state constituency, effective January this year.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who made the announcement today, said the WFDC is "one of its kind" in the country.
"This strategic thrust is an initiative to transform Penang into a state that focuses on the development of women and family to bring about a new development direction," Chow said at a press conference in Komtar today.
"The committees are tasked to plan and implement programmes related to women and family in their respective constituencies," he added.
Each committee comprises 15 local women, where the chairperson and secretary are each paid a monthly allowance of RM700 and RM600 respectively, while the treasurer and other committee members will be given meeting allowances.
Each committee is allocated RM10,000 a year to conduct women- and family-centric programmes.
"With the formation of such committees in each of the 40 constituencies, we would have 600 women leaders to contribute towards the implementation of development programmes for the people of Penang," Chow said.
This move is part of the Gender Inclusiveness portfolio, headed by state executive councillor Chong Eng (above), which is in line with Chow's Penang 2030 vision.
Chow said about RM20 million would be allocated for the programme.
At the same press conference, Chong said that leadership positions in the committee would be open to 40 percent women, 40 percent men and the remaining 20 percent to both men and women.
"This will prevent a single gender from comprising more than 60 percent of the committee and avert a single gender from dominating the decision-making and implementation system within the state and local government in Penang," she added.
