Oleh : DATO SERI DR MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat : MANDARIN ORIENTAL HOTEL,
KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh : 26-09-2000
Tajuk : THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE
SECOND MEETING OF THE REGIONAL
STEERING COMMITTEE ON THE
ADVANCEMENT OF RURAL AND ISLAND
WOMEN-ASIA PACIFIC REGION (RSC-AP)
Penyampai : PM
I would like to congratulate members of the Regional
Steering Committee on the Advancement of Rural and Island Women
Asia Pacific (RSC-AP), for coming together to express their
concerns on issues faced by rural and island women in the
region. Your presence here today is evidence of your commitment
towards achieving the objectives of the RSC-AP as well as to
enhance your advocacy role on behalf of the rural and island
women.
2. RSC-AP is a unique association of prominent First Ladies
who have strategically utilised their position as wives of
Heads of State or Government to extend helping hand as well as
lend their voices to raise critical issues on behalf of the
poor, marginalised and disadvantaged rural and island women.
Your exemplary work is evident in the report of the RSC-AP. I
am sure national Governments, regional and international
communities will continue to give their financial and technical
support for poverty eradication and empowerment programmes for
the rural women of the world, of which 550 million are the
poorest of the poor.
3. In this regard RSC-AP could act as a catalyst for change
and poverty eradication. First Ladies should continue their
advocacy role to leverage political and financial support for
rural and island women from a range of stakeholders, especially
your own national Governments. Your role as a `catalyst' should
also include `bridging partnerships' between Governments, NGOs,
civil society, the business community as well as international
development and donor agencies, so that immediate results in
matching resources to the needs of rural women could be
achieved. Your access to high-level decision-makers could
facilitate and help expedite input towards policy formulation
and programme planning from gender perspectives, targeting for
the economic advancement of women, rural as well as non-rural.
4. Since 1992, the International Steering Committee as well
as the Regional Steering Committee for the Advancement of Rural
and Island Women have put in special efforts calling for
political commitment of national Governments, to target rural
women in poverty eradication programmes. I believe most
Governments in the region are aware and appreciative of the
fact that poor rural women are among the key targets of poverty
eradication. This is evident from the increase in the number
of micro-credit institutions found in most countries in our
region. According to the data on the follow-up of Micro-credit
summit in 1997, worldwide, 14 million of the world's poorest
families are being reached by 1065 micro-credit institutions
compared to eight million in 1997. Rural women have gained an
international reputation as a `good credit risk', with high
repayment rates. Such reputation have made them a priority for
poverty -- oriented credit programme.
5. However, on the part of the Government, we have the
responsibility not only in providing macro-economic development
policies and programmes for poverty eradication but we also
have a commitment to remove any barriers that further
contribute to the feminisation of poverty. The success of micro-
credit programmes is a showcase of the success of removing the
barrier to rural women's access to credit. Concerted efforts
are needed to ensure the removal of barriers to women's access
to land, health delivery systems and services, especially
reproductive health and socio-communicable diseases such as
STDs, HIV and AIDS. Access to non-formal skills development
and entrepreneurial training transfer of appropriate farm and
non-farm technology and targeting the poor rural women are
vital to the success of any poverty programmes. Once the
barriers are removed, rural women's role as prime movers of
change and development can be enhanced and realised much
sooner.
6. In recent years, a new development terminology has emerged
-- that is, the term `gender'. This term is associated with
policies, development planning and programmes. We hear
terminologies such as gender-sensitive policies, gender-
responsive development planning and programmes. One of the
critical barriers to gender-equality, and a major contributor
to the increasing and persistent phenomenon of `feminisation
of poverty' is gender-insensitivity on the part of the
Government, the policy-makers, planners, implementers and the
society at large.
7. Gender does not refer to sex -- male or female. It refers
to the `mind-set' of a community or society, on what is
perceived as `appropriate and acceptable with regard to the
role and behaviour of men and women'. In a conservative culture
or communities, `gender' refers to traditional roles of men as
bread winners and women as home makers. In a progressive
culture or society, the gender concept changes according to the
needs of society -- it refers to the role that men and women
are required to assume, in the home, in society and in nation-
building. It is based on individual capabilities, skills,
competencies as needed by the job market, the corporate
sectors, the Government, as well as for family and community
development. The traditional mindset, i.e. our beliefs,
attitude and biasness towards women's `perceived' capabilities,
unfortunately overrides our logic, knowledge and observation of
women's actual capabilities and competencies. At the work
place, women workers are often seen as "a wife, a mother, a
sister, a marginal worker, and a sex object". In promotion
exercises, or in policy formulation and programme planning, we
assume that opportunities are given `equally' to all, men and
women.
8. Policy planners and decision-makers in both the public and
private sectors, are said to be `gender-blind', and `gender-
insensitive', for assuming that men and women are the same --
whereas, according to gender experts, men and women are
different -- they have different needs, they behave
differently. Psychologically and emotionally, they are
different. Verbally, they may express the same terms but they
must be interpreted differently; according to their
perspectives and experiences.
9. Men and women have different attributes, strengths and
weaknesses. Allah has ordained attributes of men and women to
complement each other, to perform tasks and duties equitably,
with fairness and justice. Unfortunately, women get
discriminated against because of the differences. To be
different does not mean to be unequal; yet, women get unequal
treatment because they are different from men -- because they
think, feel, behave differently from men. Hence the call for
gender -- sensitivity awareness training programmes,
specifically targeting policy makers, economic planners,
decision-makers in Government and the private sectors; so as to
remind us to incorporate the needs of women when we formulate
policies and design development programmes and strategies.
10. I believe such policies and programmes have been
formulated in member countries' Plan of Action for Women. In
some countries they have been rigorously implemented. In
others, they are a little slow but it is never too late. It
should be one of the highest priorities for action on the
national agenda for gender and development. I am sure no
Government would reject such initiatives if the outcome will
enhance the productivity of women and men, especially when
poverty could be reduced significantly. In promoting gender
awareness, strategic alliances with economic planners and
advisers throughout the Government administrative mechanism
should be established. It is therefore timely that Governments
in the Asia Pacific put the rhetorics on Gender Perspectives in
Development Planning into effective practice, in ways that will
benefit the poor, rural and urban women. Gender sensitive
policies and programmes will ensure the inclusion of women, not
only in poverty reduction, but also in other economic
activities which will ultimately help the Government by
increasing economic growth.
11. In Malaysia, the Government has taken steps to ensure the
removal of gender obstacles. The success of The Amanah Ikhtiar
Malaysia, with financial allocation of 200 million Ringgit as
on-lending loan, is an example of our sensitivity to the role
and needs of rural women. Government allocation of 50 million
Ringgit to implement smart partnership projects on women with
women NGOs is another case in point. Further efforts must be
undertaken to ensure gender mainstreaming, of which gender
budgeting will be our top priority.
12. The world has acknowledged the vital role of rural women
in poverty alleviation. With micro-credit facility, women have
access to money at entry points. This will lead to their
capability not only to lift their families out of poverty, but
to achieve economic and political empowerment within their
homes, their villages and their communities. However, there is
increasing evidence from the Asia Pacific region that indicates
the over-riding influence of gender ideology on the lives of
rural women borrowers, despite their access to credit. Studies
from four micro-credit programmes in Bangladesh showed that on
average 39 per cent of women clients had little or no control
over the use of their loans. There are cases whereby women
apply for loans on behalf of their husbands and end up paying
the debt! This is one example of the power of `gender' at work.
Perhaps, a solution would be to include husbands as co-
participants, after undergoing a compulsory `gender
sensitisation' programme, so that together, the wife-and-
husband team could scale up the micro enterprise as family
enterprises, with equitable share of tasks and responsibilities
in decision-making.
13. I have been made to understand that at today's conference
you will discuss issues on rural women, poverty and
empowerment. As such it is crucial for you to emphasise issues
that could inculcate and enhance rural women's empowerment --
to enable women to make decisions, seek resources, grab
opportunities and calculate risks. But above all, they need to
increase their self-confidence.
14. I believe there are many existing empowerment programmes
for women available today. We may not have to re-invent the
wheel! Through our South-South Cooperation, the sharing of
successful experiences, networking, and the sharing of
resources as well as exchanging technical expertise among
member countries, programmes acknowledged as `best practice'
could be modified to suit the local situation and then
replicated in other countries.
15. Effective empowerment calls for increased knowledge and
skills, particularly the technical, communication and
managerial skills. Access to technology, including the
Information Communication Technology (ICT) is an important
prerequisite to the development of the K-economy and
empowerment of the individual. In the era of information
technology, special strategies are needed to include rural
women and especially young rural girls in computer literacy and
skills training on how to use the ICT. Otherwise, the digital
divide will threaten to increase the inequities between the
urban-rural and between the sexes. The cost of exclusion is too
high. If excluded, rural women will not be able to enjoy the
benefits of the enormous potential of the use of ICT such as
linking remote communities to the global markets, making
telemedicine and telework available to communities in need and
ensuring accessibility to distance learning for rural women and
young girls.
16. The challenge of including rural women, especially the
poor, is formidable but not impossible to realise. The Grameen
Bank of Bangladesh, as a well established and leading micro-
credit institution, has once again led the way to empower rural
poor women with the use of ICT. The Grameen Bank has provided
basic communication infrastructure facilities such as the
Grameen solar powered telephones and Grameen Internet. In
Malaysia, two pilot projects on computer literacy / internet
use, have been launched to educate rural women borrowers of our
micro-credit institution, the Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia. The
Government is encouraging families to own computers, including
rural families. The initial step to narrow the urban-rural
digital gap has been undertaken by the Ministry of Rural
Development, Malaysia, by launching a programme on one computer
one village. This is in addition to the school computer
programmes of the Ministry of Education.
17. To enhance knowledge of rural and island women, RSC-AP
member countries could contribute to the development of the
content to be disseminated and utilised. In this regard,
experts from RSC-AP member countries could network to produce
and exchange content, using the sub-regional lingua franca such
as Hindi, Indonesian/Malaysian language, Chinese etc. The
materials should also be translated into vernacular languages.
18. The RSC-AP, as a non-political entity, has an enormous
potential, as a catalyst to bring positive changes for the well-
being of rural women and their families, through their advocacy
efforts and bridging partnerships between and amongst
Governments, NGOs, international donors and development
agencies. Much can be achieved through smart partnership
between organisations of rural women and the relevant sectors,
especially in mobilising resources to the needy. As the First
Ladies represent the voices of the rural poor and destitute
women at international fora, issues raised will certainly be
well received by the international communities and national
Governments. Their position allows them to work hand-in-hand
with the rural and island women and side-by-side with the
highest decision-makers in their respective countries.
19. I have only admiration for their efforts and commitment. I
wish the RSC-AP the best in their future endeavour and hope the
poor rural and island women will be able to reap the benefits
of the work of the First Ladies.
20. On this note, I have great pleasure in declaring the
second Regional Steering Committee Meeting for the Advancement
of Rural and Island Women-Asia Pacific officially open.
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