Nancy said the 2025 budget has set aside funds for shelters and social services for survivors of gender-based violence, though it was not expressly mentioned when the proposals were tabled last Friday.

“We have our shelters and we also collaborate with NGOs. There has been no issue of a lack of funds so far.

“If NGOs feel like they want additional funds, we can work on that when the need arises,” she told reporters after an event here today.

Yesterday, the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) said the budget lacked dedicated funds for gender-based violence and domestic violence prevention and response.

Its acting executive director, Nazreen Nizam, said the budget failed to provide specific allocations to enhance the safety, health and well-being of women, and failed to bolster the number of social workers to respond to survivors of gender-based violence.

Nancy said the bulk of the ministry’s allocation would be spent on nurturing women leaders.

She said her ministry will provide funding for autism centres to implement early intervention measures to detect autistic children at an early stage.

Concerning the 96 parents demanding to meet their children after they were rescued from welfare homes linked to Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings, Nancy said the ministry has not allowed this yet.

She said there was a need to be extra careful in processing these applications to protect the children.