WOMEN empowerment initiatives in Sabah have come a long way under the leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
The current Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-Pakatan Harapan (GRS-PH) Plus State Government recognises women as important game-changers in Sabah’s development, said Institute of Development Studies (IDS) Sabah Chairwoman Datuk Seri Azizah Mohd Dun.
Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});Speaking at the Sabah Women’s Budget Townhall 2025 session attended by some 100 participants, mostly women, in Kota Kinabalu on Jan 11, she said under Hajiji’s leadership, the 2025 State Budget placed women’s development as one of its main priorities, giving special attention to women’s development as a step to ensuring overall people’s wellbeing, in line with the theme Prosperous Sabah, People’s Wellbeing.
Azizah said the State Government has allocated substantial funding for women’s development programmes in the 2025 State Budget.
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“This funding will support various initiatives, including awareness programmes on early child marriage, women’s entrepreneurship development and legal clinic services.
Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});“Additionally, a total of 186 non-governmental organisations under Jhewa will receive grants to further their work in women’s empowerment,” she said.
She said the 2025 State Budget also includes RM11.6 million allocated to the Yayasan Usaha Maju (YUM) for extending micro-credit programmes to women entrepreneurs in small and medium industries.
Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});“This is a 5.4 per cent increase from 2024’s allocation,” she added.
“A notable new initiative is the Young Women Entrepreneurship Programme which will receive RM10 million in funding.
“The programme designed as a pilot project will offer micro loans at competitive interest rates to young women entrepreneurs,” she said, adding that the funding is provided by the Sabah Government and Sabah Credit Corporation with each contributing RM5 million.
She said while the 2025 State Budget shows improvement in allocations for women’s initiatives, there is still room for enhancement, especially in creating comprehensive support systems for working women.
“When we talk about women’s empowerment, it is important to have proper support systems in place,” she said.
She also spoke about the need for a change in public perception towards women and pointed out the persistent stereotype of women being only good at making noise or being in the kitchen.
“In many ecosystems, including Sabah, women often face various barriers to success, including discrimination and limited access to education and employment opportunities.
“Women’s empowerment means eliminating these barriers, providing equal opportunities and ensuring all parties can contribute regardless of gender,” she said, adding that women comprise 50 per cent of the population and are important contributors to Sabah’s development.
She said in Sabah, women’s labour force participation rate was 56.9 per cent compared to men’s 83.7 per cent in 2022, adding that while the data shows women are active in the employment sector, their involvement in high-level leadership and policy-making remains limited.
On the Townhall session, she said it is aimed at providing detailed information about budget allocations to specific target groups, including entrepreneurs, single mothers and young women.
“We do not want government allocations to go unused simply because the target groups are unaware of their existence.
“Through this Townhall, we want participants to be aware of the budget in detail and propose important matters to ensure allocations are implemented effectively,” she said.
She reiterated her call for the setting up of a dedicated Women’s Ministry to further strengthen women’s representation and development in the State.
“It is up to us to prove our capabilities. We can speak up but we must also demonstrate our ability to work and bring success not just to ourselves, but to our families and our State,” she said.
The event, themed “Empowering and Dignifying Women Through Inclusivity”, was jointly hosted by IDS Sabah and the Women Leadership Initiative Committee, to strengthen women’s development agenda in Sabah, focusing on the special allocations and economic opportunities outlined in the 2025 State Budget.