On 6 March 2024, the Permanent Mission of Malaysia in UN Geneva organised a panel discussion on “The Way Forward for Women's Rights in Malaysia: Achievements and Challenges” on the sidelines of the 55th Session of the Human Rights Council.
The event aimed to share the good practices, successes achieved, and challenges faced to protect women’s rights and promote gender equality in the country. The discussion was timely as it was held ahead of the commemoration of the International Women’s Day on 8 March 2024. This positive sharing session will set a constructive scene to build up towards Malaysia’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) review, which is scheduled to be held in May 2024.
The six panellists invited to share their perspectives were:
(i) Ms. Salwana Tan Sri Dato` Mahmood, Deputy Undersecretary of Women and Family Policy (KPWKM) [online];
(ii) Ms. Sulyna Abdullah, Chief, Strategic Planning and Membership and Special Advisor to the Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) [in-person];
(iii) Dr Jazilah Mohd Saad, Director of Policy and Research, Department of Syariah Judiciary Malaysia (JKSM) [online];
(iv) Ms. Pernille Fenger, Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Representation Office in Geneva [in-person];
(v) Ms. Tengku Aira Tengku Razif, UNFPA Assistant Representative in Malaysia [online]; and
(vi) Professor Dato' Noor Aziah Mohd Awal, Vice-Chair of Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) [online].
The side event received cross-regional participation. The panellists offered a well-rounded exploration of women’s empowerment in Malaysia, covering a range of topics including government initiatives, legal reforms, international collaboration with UN agencies like UNFPA, and the remaining challenges. While commending Malaysia for its strong commitment in ensuring gender equality, speakers also highlighted the remaining challenges faced in the country and the need to step up the constructive collaboration among different government agencies, civil society, and international bodies in addressing these challenges.
The panel discussion demonstrated Malaysia’s constructive cooperation to engage with the UN human rights mechanisms and its readiness to share experience on the promotion and protection of women rights in the country. It also spoke to the Government of Malaysia’s strong commitment and high priority to improve women rights by providing enabling policy and environment to empower women in Malaysia.
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