WBS Hosts Gender Outlook Forum 2025 To Drive Gender Equality Agenda

SUBANG, Aug 28 (Bernama) -- Selangor continues to strengthen its position as a leader in women’s empowerment in Malaysia, serving as a catalyst for strategic collaboration to accelerate the gender equality agenda through the Gender Outlook Forum 2025, held over two days starting today.

State Women Development and Social Welfare Committee chairman Anfaal Saari said the forum, organised by Wanita Berdaya Selangor (WBS) under the theme Advancing Gender Equality in ASEAN, aims to mainstream gender equality in decision-making across all policy sectors, while promoting policy dialogue and engagement among various stakeholders at both regional and local levels.

“In addition, the forum seeks to reinforce government efforts by enhancing capacity, strengthening tools, and leveraging existing resources in line with global commitments,” she told reporters here.

The forum was launched by the Prime Minister’s wife, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, and attended by Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.

Anfaal said, based on data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), women’s participation in the labour force in Selangor stands at 69.8 per cent, exceeding the national female labour force participation rate of 58.5 per cent.

She added that the forum emphasises five key pillars for discussion, namely mainstreaming gender, government capacity and data availability; preventing violence against women in politics and strengthening democratic participation; reducing gender inequality through investment in the care sector and women’s economic empowerment; and addressing climate change, green sustainability, and technology.

Earlier, Anfaal, in her speech, said that as a demonstration of Selangor’s commitment to ASEAN’s vision for gender equality, the state became the first in Malaysia to initiate two key strategic frameworks: the Gender Mainstreaming Pilot Project and the Gender-Responsive Budgeting initiative.

“These initiatives are a clear demonstration of our state's proactive efforts to align with and contribute to national and ASEAN commitments to advancing gender equality and social inclusion.

“WBS has also launched two flagship leadership programmes, namely the Women Leadership Academy (AKW) and Selangor Women Assembly (SIWANIS),” she said.

During the event, a cooperation agreement was also signed between WBS and the International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA) Institute, INCEIF University, as a joint commitment to promote inclusive innovation and economic resilience based on care.

The forum was organised by WBS in collaboration with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Centre for Research on Women and Gender (KANITA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FSSK) and Universiti Malaya’s Gender Studies Programme.

-- BERNAMA