KUCHING: Sarawak celebrated International Women’s Day 2025 by calling for urgent and inclusive efforts to increase women’s leadership across all areas.
Minister for Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development, Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah stressed Sarawak’s commitment to inclusive women’s leadership at the 2025 International Women’s Day celebration on today (April 21) at the Imperial Hotel.
In alignment with this year’s theme, which is Accelerate Action, women now constitute over 47 per cent of Sarawak’s labour force, particularly active in the services and public sectors yet greater urgency is needed to ensure more women are represented in positions of leadership.
“This figure doesn’t even capture the unregistered workforce, which is certainly higher,” Fatimah said in her opening address.
On top of that, she also expressed heartfelt appreciation for the collaboration between the Sarawak Centre of Performance Excellence (SCOPE), the Asian Women’s Leadership University College (AWLUC), the Department of Women and Family Sarawak, and the Leadership Institute of Sarawak State Civil Service.
“This is not merely a celebration—it is a movement,” she affirmed, calling on all sectors to support an agenda for equality.
To add further, she noted the state government’s continued efforts to address the gender pay gap, underrepresentation in STEM, and limited funding for rural women entrepreneurs. This includes a new award for women-friendly workplaces.
“The award is for organisations that have women-friendly policies. This year, it is high time we acknowledge their initiatives.”
Moreover, a Gender Equality Unit has been set up, along with a Women’s Leadership Chair at Swinburne to support research and policy on women in leadership.
Fatimah also announced plans to collaborate strategically with the AWLUC that would help ensure the leadership chair achieves its full potential.
To add to that, the event also heard from Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar, co-founder of AWLUC, who mentioned the importance of sustained and inclusive action.
In her speech, she praised Malaysia’s milestone of achieving 33.1 per cent women on corporate boards, surpassing the 30 per cent target.
Zarinah also introduced AWLUC’s upcoming Master of Arts in Leadership Development, a programme aimed at nurturing a new generation of women leaders through a liberal arts and sciences framework. “We are excited to open our doors to women eager to lead.”
