Announcement entitling widows to continue receiving the pension of their deceased husbands upon their re-marriage
1st September 2001
Amendment to the Immigration Regulations against discrimination of Malaysian women marrying foreign spouses. Male foreigners marrying Malaysian woman spouses are allowed to renew social visit passes annually
1st August 2001
The Parliament approves the Amendment to Article 8.2 of the Malaysian Constitution – Prohibition of Gender Discrimination
23rd July 2001
Priority is given to single mothers with monthly incomes below RM600 to own low-cost homes located in a concentrated area.
30th january 2001
Establishment of the Ministry of Women and Family Development
17th January 2001
Announcement of the establishment of a Ministry for Women Affairs
To stimulate government programmes and activities at the grass roots level, the State Council for Women and Family Development was established in each state and parliamentary constituency. This council plays the role of ensuring effective and efficient implementation of programmes and activities on development of women from the grass roots level.
Year 2002
Section 375 of the Penal Code was amended to increase sentencing for rape cases to a maximum of 30 years' imprisonment, a minimum of 15 years for incest and death for rapists whose victims die. This is to reduce rape cases and incest which have become a concern of late.
Year 2002
Amendments to the Land Act (Group Settlement Areas), 1960 were approved by Parliament in 2002 to enable wives or former wives or next-of-kin of pioneers of the land schemes and jointly developed the farm to become co-owners of the land settlement
November 2002
The Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) regulations were amended to increase the death assistance rate from RM2,000.00 to RM2,500.00 effective from November 2002
31st July 2002
The programme “Utamakan Keluarga: Semakin Hari Semakin Sayang” is launched by the YAB Prime Minister
1st March 2002
'Nur' magazine receives Best Newsletter Award from the Institute of Public Relations Malaysia under the “publications – government agencies” category
Furthermore, in line with Item 8(2) of the Federal Constitution and the vision and mission of the MWFCD to achieve gender equality, the government agreed to establish a Cabinet Committee on Gender Equality. This Cabinet Committee was chaired by the Prime Minister himself with several ministers as members. It is aimed at setting the direction and policy as well as monitor the implementation of programmes and projects related to the development of women and family. At its first meeting, this committee made three important decisions, i.e.:
i Creation of Gender Focal Point (GFP) in every relevant ministry and government agency. The GFP would act as the agent of the MWFCD in implementing programmes and projects at all government administrative levels so as to be in line with the intent to achieve gender equality. This would have a deep impact on government administration whereby each relevant ministry and agency would be more focused and effective in dealing with issues of development of women and gender equality in this country;
ii Establishment of special shelter homes for women and children whereby the House of Nur in five states, i.e. Kelantan, Pahang, Selangor, Melaka and Sabah , were renovated into shelter homes. These homes provided temporary shelter to women and children who were victims of violence. The House of Nur in Selangor would be made into a shelter especially for victims of human trafficking; and
iii The standardisation of Islamic laws would be expedited. This is to avoid problems arising from the differences of Islamic laws between states which affected women and children.
Year 2003
The Mentor-Mentee training programme for the National Savings Bank Micro Credit Scheme was implemented by the MWFCD in collaboration with the National Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Malaysia (NAWEM). This programme aimed to help small businesswomen entrepreneurs to obtain loans more systematically besides promoting training and business networking among women entrepreneurs.
Year 2003
To strengthen family ties, the government agreed that an exemption of 50% on stamp duty would be given for transfer of property ownership among close family members like husbands, wives, mothers, fathers and children.
Year 2003
From 2003, civil servants were also allowed to take unrecorded leave for 3 days to attend to funeral needs of close relatives who had passed away. In this way, the government hoped the private sector would adopt the same practices.
Budget 2003
Tax deduction for expenses incurred by companies in organising Family Day activities
Budget 2003
Male government officers can now enjoy longer paternity leave to enable them to assist their wife with childbirth and childcare. In line with the “Give Priority to Your Family” (“Utamakan Keluarga”) campaign, paternity leave is extended from 3 to 7 days
Budget 2003
Priority is given to single mothers with monthly incomes below RM600 to own low-cost homes located in a concentrated area.
31st May 2003
To consolidate the family institution, the SMARTSTART package was launched by His Royal Highness the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on 31 May 2003. This package comprises materials regarding preparedness for marriage, communication within families, health and parenting as a comprehensive package guide to newly married couples. The Cabinet, on 15 February 2006, agreed that the MWFCD conduct pre-nuptial courses (SMARTSTART Course) for future brides/grooms interested to participate in such courses
The government agreed to the implementation of a policy of at least 30% involvement of women at the decision making level in the public sector. The government hoped the private sector and non-governmental organisations would follow suit.
8th October 2004
To increase awareness and provide guidance for health care to women, a programme, Women: Health and Lifestyle 2004, was launched by the Deputy Prime Minister on 8 October 2004. This programme was continued in 2005.
4th March 2004
To improve the health of women and family members, the Nur Sejahtera Clinic and the Nur and Family Information Centre were launched on 4 March 2004. This clinic provides services for reproductive health, wellness of men and women, cancer screening for women, golden era management for the female senior citizens and safe weight management techniques for men and women. The Information Centre acts as a reference centre on matters related to the family institution and women's health.
8th February 2004
An e-Women's Centre to help working women to generate additional income by using information and communications technology was launched on 8 February 2004 in the Pantai Valley .
To help low income parents obtain more organised and quality childcare services, the government agreed that ten pilot community TASKA (childcare centre) be established under the stewardship of the SWD. The TASKA was premised on the government-NGO smart partnership principle whereby the NGO and the community would run the TASKA with government financial assistance.
Year 2005
To help women who were not working or who were forced to stop working owing to domestic commitments to generate their own income, the government agreed to introduce the home office concept. Through this concept, women could begin businesses or commerce on a small scale from their homes. The regulations and procedures of this kind of work are being coordinated by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government.
Year 2005
To lighten the financial burden of single mothers to sustain their children's schooling, the government agreed that private companies that fostered single mothers' children and paid for their education till form five be given tax exemption up to RM200,000 annually.
29th October 2005
To help senior citizens, the disabled, the needy and victims of disasters at the grass roots level, the Council of Welfare and Social Development (CWSD) was set up in every state and parliamentary constituency. The Prime Minister launched this council on 29 October 2005.
25th August 2005
The Women's Financial Initiative Programme (I-Kew) was launched by the MWFCD on 25 August 2005 in conjunction with Women's Day celebrations. Under this programme, the MWFCD through the DWD and SWD collaborated with six companies, i.e. Mostwell Sdn Bhd, Procter & Gamble, Puppy Winks, Maybank Sdn Bhd, Clara International Beauty Group and Yeoh Tiong Lay. This programme aimed at increasing the skills and capability of women. The target group of this programme was women especially single mothers and unemployed female graduates.
25th July 2005
To empower the public especially women about health and the importance of early detection of illness, the Nur Sejahtera Clinic set up a call centre named NFPPB Healthline. It was launched by the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development on 25 July 2005. The information about selected illnesses was based on the frequency of its occurrence in Malaysia so that prevention and early treatment could be carried out.
To ensure the gender equality aspect is integrated in all government programmes and projects, the gender budget pilot project was implemented in five ministries, i.e. Education, Higher Education, Health, Human Resources, and Rural and Regional Development. These five ministries implemented the gender budget in their operating budgets commencing from the 2006/2007 budget.
Year 2006
The MWFCD cooperated closely with NGOs through the smart partnership concept. The NGOs would be provided financial assistance to carry out such programmes like legal literacy, skills training and awareness campaigns. In 2005, a total of RM2.9 million was distributed to the NGOs and RM4.4 million to the State Council for Women and Family Development (SCWFD) to implement programmes for the development of women and family. This has benefited 448,273 participants.
To assist NGOs including welfare homes for senior citizens, children and the disabled as well as youth and sports associations to continue their activities/programmes, the government allocated RM138 million in 2006.
Budget 2006
The option of exemption claim on Real Property Gains Tax on a house was given to home owners, whether the husband or wife. Whereas prior to the 2006 budget, only one claim could be made by a couple, now both the husband and wife may claim the tax exemption once in their lifetime.
Cabinet had given its nod on the establishment of the National Social Work Competency Standards made by the Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development to enhance the efficiency level of social workers.
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