Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) acting executive director Nazreen Nizam said the budget included positive initiatives for women such as a RM650 million allocation to support women and youth entrepreneurship, and a call for all of the top 100 public listed companies in the country to ensure their board of directors comprised at least 30% women by end-2027.
While such steps helped promote gender equality in the economic sphere, she said, WAO had hoped to see dedicated funds for gender-based violence and domestic violence prevention and response in the 2025 budget.
Nazreen said the budget also failed to provide specific allocations or measures to enhance the safety, health and well-being of women.
“This includes support for shelters and safe spaces, as well as enhanced legal and social services for survivors of violence,” she said, describing the omission as a significant oversight.
“There was also no mention of bolstering the number of social workers, which is critically low and represents an important part of the ecosystem of response to survivors of gender-based violence.”
The WAO was also concerned about the RM25 million allocation for the women, family and community development ministry for a programme to rehabilitate hundreds of children rescued from welfare homes linked to Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH).
Nazreen said clarification is needed on how these funds will be used and whether they align with efforts to support and empower women and children, especially those at risk of gender-based violence and domestic violence.
“The programme is vague and raises concerns about its implications for gender equality and values in Malaysia,” she said.
‘Release impact report on MSME loans for women’
Gender Budget Group co-founder Omna Sreeni-Ong questioned the impact of the RM470 million in funds provided by SME Bank, Bank Simpanan Nasional, Bank Rakyat and Mara to support women in micro-small-medium enterprises to obtain working capital, purchase assets and expand their operations.
“What has been the impact of these annual allocations for women’s economic empowerment programmes?” she asked, adding that it would be useful to have reports on the impact of these programmes as an attachment to the budget speech.
Omna also commended the government for the Women’s Leadership Apprenticeship programme, which aims to increase the talent pool of women corporate leaders.
She said several ministries and agencies already offer leadership programmes and called for an inter-agency task force to be established for better collaboration and monitoring of such programmes.
This would allow resources to be mobilised more efficiently and judiciously.