Read the original story hereAs we begin a new year, I would like to extend my warmest wishes to you. This January, as the world marks the International Day of Education, we are reminded that progress for children depends on timely support. Because of you, children are growing, learning and imagining a future full of possibilities. You are a Wira untuk Kanak-kanak and children in Malaysia and across the world are moving forward because of you.I would like to share a story from a recent school visit that shows what your support made possible, and why your continued support is needed now.  My name is Azlina Kamal, and I lead Education programmes at UNICEF Malaysia. Recently, I visited a school in Serendah, Selangor. The teachers there have been trained through our Future Skills for All (FS4A) programme to better support children with disabilities, so every child can learn with confidence and dignity. Launched in 2020 with the Ministry of Education and our partners, FS4A helps make learning more relevant and inclusive for every child. Teachers are equipped with practical strategies, technology and creative teaching approaches, so classrooms can respond to different learning needs, including those of deaf/blind students.Because of you, classrooms like these are turning into spaces where every child belongs. At this school, I met Husna, fondly known as Una, a bright 12-year-old girl who is deaf. When I first saw her, she was quietly sketching scenes from her daily life and imagination.
 Una was born with hearing loss and lives with her father and siblings. Without early access to sign language, school was often overwhelming. Lessons moved quickly and instructions were hard to follow. Learning, which should empower a child, too often left her feeling unseen and left behind.Sadly, Una’s experience is still the reality for many children today.  Across Malaysia, around 4,000 deaf children in government schools face daily barriers to learning. These range from limited access to trained teachers and inclusive learning tools to stigma and gaps in digital access.For many, opportunities to build problem-solving, digital skills and creative thinking remain out of reach.This is why action matters now. 
Because of Wira Untuk Kanak-Kanak like you, Una’s story has begun to change.Step into Una’s world. Watch how the right support is giving Una the confidence to learn, connect with others, and begin dreaming about her future.  Through FS4A, Una’s teacher, Cikgu Muhammad Amsyar, learned how to use technology in simple, creative ways to support visual learning. One of these ideas became the “Totbin”, a hands-on learning tool that helps Una “see” numbers and connect Maths with meaning. "Una has fun using this tool. Her learning is improving quickly, and she’s excited to explore new skills, even coding."Cikgu AmsyarFor the first time, learning made sense.Today, Una is more confident. She participates actively in class and is proud of what she can do.But while Una is moving forward, many other children are still waiting. “Now I understand numbers. When I count, I can see them.”Husna  Since 2020, FS4A has expanded across Malaysia, supporting nearly 59,000 teachers and students with and without disabilities in 3,600 schools. Teachers now have access to more than 120 practical strategies that make learning more engaging and inclusive.Yet demand continues to outpace resources.Globally, there are an estimated 240 million children with disabilities. Like Una, they need access to quality education to develop their skills and realize their full potential. Your support today can help make this possible.In 2025 alone, 6.9 million children globally, including children with disabilities, accessed education through UNICEF’s support. In 2026, we aim to reach 22.9 million children, including those affected by poverty, displacement, conflict and disability are not left behind. In Malaysia, RM1.38 million is needed to strengthen quality and inclusive education so that children like Una can learn in safe, inclusive classrooms that recognize her potential. Without timely support, children risk falling further behind, not because they cannot learn, but because learning environments are not yet ready for them.Your gift today can help train more teachers, adapt more learning materials and ensure classrooms are safe, supportive spaces where children like Una can keep moving forward.This is a moment where your action can make a real difference.Will you take action now and continue walking this journey with us?On behalf of children who hope, who dream, and who are eager to learn, I thank you for being a Wira untuk Kanak-kanak.for every child, quality education 💙With heartfelt gratitude,Azlina Kamal
Education Specialist and Lead

Yet behind this figure, many villages in remote areas of Pahang, Perak, and Sabah still face unreliable electricity supply and limited connectivity. As a result, the communities are often forced to rely on fuel-powered generators, which are costly, inconsistent, and difficult to maintain.The lack of stable supply of electricity constrains entrepreneurship, agricultural productivity, and income generation, further widening rural-urban gaps.Against this backdrop, International Clean Energy Day – observed annually on January 26 – serves as a reminder that clean energy is not only about decarbonisation, but also about people, livelihoods, and equity.For communities in remote parts of Malaysia, where stable power remains a luxury, access to clean and reliable electricity can be transformative and unlocks opportunity, resilience, and hope for local economies.Transforming Communities, One Village at a TimeImplemented by UNDP Malaysia and funded by the Ministry of Finance, the Green and Resilient Recovery (GRR) Local Action Grant demonstrates how clean energy can unlock local potential, reduce poverty gaps, and strengthen rural economies. Across 16 villages in Pahang, Sabah, and Sarawak, GRR has supported the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) and micro-hydro mini systems that go beyond lighting homes.  With reliable energy, farmers can process and store produce, artisans can expand production, and small businesses can operate beyond daylight hours, reaching new markets and sustaining income streams. Renewable energy has become a catalyst for rural entrepreneurship. A Pathway to Inclusive, Low-Carbon GrowthGRR shows that the transition to a low-carbon future must also be inclusive and equitable. By co-designing solutions with communities and strengthening local capacities, rural livelihoods improve, and socio-economic disparities narrow. These locally tailored approaches contribute to sustainable development while supporting Malaysia’s renewable energy targets 31% by 2025 and 40% by 2035 under the National Energy Transition framework.  Electricity is fundamental but not enoughAccess to energy lays the foundation for development, but electricity alone cannot drive lasting change. GRR adopts an integrated approach, pairing renewable energy with technical training, entrepreneurial support, and business skills development. Communities are empowered to manage enterprises sustainably and take ownership of their growth. Today, 25 community-driven businesses most of them women-led are emerging as catalysts for inclusive development. Their progress illustrates how energy access, combined with capacity building, can deliver durable socio-economic benefits. This approach exemplifies a Just Transition, ensuring low-carbon development leaves no community behind.Scaling Solutions: Horizontal and Vertical ImpactMany remote communities across Malaysia still face similar challenges. GRR’s model goes beyond energy provision by ensuring communities have the capacity to operate and maintain systems sustainably over the long term.Horizontal scalability involves replicating community-tailored off-grid solutions such as solar mini-grids, micro-hydro systems, and hybrid models in other hard-to-reach villages. In Sabah alone, more than 400 unelectrified communities have been identified as suitable for renewable mini-grid deployment, underscoring both the scale of need and opportunity (SabahRE2RoadMap)Vertical scalability focuses on enhancing the capacity of existing systems by addressing site-specific challenges and strengthening local capabilities, including technical, digital, and green skills, to ensure sustainable adoption, operation, and long-term impact.Looking AheadThe GRR experience highlights the value of participatory planning, cross-sector partnerships, and sustained investment in skills and enterprise development. A forthcoming policy brief will capture these lessons and offer actionable recommendations for policymakers, practitioners, and communities seeking to scale clean energy solutions advancing Malaysia’s Just Transition toward a future that is both green and socially inclusive.

Ageing isn’t gender-neutral, so neither should our approach be.Dr Julitta OnabanjoThis year, the Malaysian government will begin rolling out the 13th Malaysia Plan (RMK13), which outlines comprehensive strategies designed to prepare the nation as it begins its transition into an aged nation. As an ageing nation, Malaysia recognises the critical importance of taking immediate and proactive measures to meet the impending challenges of its demographic transition. The recently released RMK13 and the upcoming National Ageing Blueprint (NAB) contain well-articulated strategies for long-term care and social protection. Strengthening the care ecosystem was identified as a critical strategy, alongside improving the quality and professionalism of its talent, expanding community-based care for children, disabled and elderly people and exploring Long-Term Care insurance schemes, as practiced in other ageing nations around the world. These strategies are necessary and commendable as the population ages and care burdens rise. However, there is a way Malaysia can further streamline its efforts and reap the benefits of a second demographic dividend, and that is by centering gender within its approach to ageing – specifically through employing a life-cycle approach to policymaking. Understanding the Life-Cycle ApproachA life-cycle approach takes into account how our health and well-being are shaped by a series of interconnected stages, from before birth, through infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, through to older age. The framework takes into consideration the interplay of biological, psychological, social, and environmental factors across these stages, which is especially crucial in the context of demographic changes like population aging. The great advantage of a life-cycle approach is that it starkly reveals how ageing is not a gender-neutral experience. Gender plays a central role in how an individual experiences different life stages – persistent gender inequalities can influence the health and wellbeing of individuals at different life stages, the opportunities they receive across the life cycle, and ultimately their physical and material welfare in old age. Ageing and Gender Men and women do not experience aging the same way. According to the Malaysian Ageing and Retirement Survey (MARS) conducted by Universiti Malaya’s Social Wellbeing Research Centre, women in Malaysia live longer than men, surviving to an average of 78 years – however they do so with significantly fewer resources, and in poorer health.Female-headed households among the elderly are also disproportionately represented in the B40 group, often surviving on nearly half the mean income of their male counterparts.The vulnerability of older women is not an accident of nature, but the cumulative result of a lifetime of gender inequality. Addressing the challenges of an ageing nation necessarily demands us to address gender inequality, because the two are inextricably linked. Compounding gender inequalities across the life cycle can lead to poorer outcomes in old age. Applying a life cycle approach, we can see how cultural norms that overwhelmingly place the burden of care work onto working-age women (including caring for children and elderly parents) lead to interrupted careers, lower Employees Provident Fund (EPF) savings and a lack of formal pension coverage in old age. Poor access to sexual and reproductive health services and education for adolescents can also lead to teen pregnancies and child marriages, with knock-on impacts on their educational and career attainment, and ultimately their financial welfare as they age. Discrimination, stigma against working mothers and gender based violence across a woman’s life cycle also impacts their ability to participate fully in education, the labour force and public life more broadly. These are not “women’s issues” with limited impact on only a certain subset of the population. Women make up half of the nation’s population, and consequently the impacts of gender inequality have a direct impact on the welfare of families, communities, and entire countries at large. When women are unable to participate in the labour force due to existing structural inequalities, the country loses out on untapped economic potential. Tapping into this hidden economic powerhouse is what will drive Malaysia’s growth and development through its demographic transition. Not to forget that women also make up the majority of the care workforce. Addressing gender inequalities (including closing the gender wage gap, recognising unpaid care work and women’s “double burdens” and cracking down on gender based violence) inevitably strengthens the care ecosystem, which is vital for sustaining an ageing population. 2026: The Year to Watch The next five years are the "final sprint" for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ahead of the 2030 deadline. It is also a pivotal moment for international cooperation, as seen in the recent inaugural ASEAN-UNFPA Forum on Population Dynamics and Development, held last November in Kuala Lumpur. The forum underscored a vital lesson: gender equality is the key to unlocking reproductive agency and inter-generational solidarity.To "raise the floor" for all Malaysians, national policies must embrace gender mainstreaming. What this means in practice is truly recognising the knowledge, experience, lived realities and needs of both men and women, and reflecting that in the policies we design and the projects we embark on. In the context of an ageing Malaysia, the life cycle approach seamlessly embodies this. The "fertility dilemma" and "ageing dilemma" are two sides of the same coin. Under the lifecycle approach, investing in SRH education, maternity protections, childcare, and elderly care today will also be a direct investment into the financial security of tomorrow’s older women.We also cannot make true progress on gender equality and dignified ageing without comprehensive gender-disaggregated data. We cannot fix what we do not measure. As such, all ageing-related metrics must be disaggregated by gender to ensure targeted interventions reach those most at risk.Walking TogetherUNFPA has accompanied Malaysia’s development journey for 53 years – from the days as a young nation with high fertility, to the current status as a rapidly ageing society. At the end of the day, effectively addressing ageing demands more than building childcare centers and nursing homes; it demands a fundamental shift in how we value women's contributions across their entire lives. 2026 is the year to watch. As we embark on the 13MP and the next UNFPA Country Programme cycle (2026-2030), let us work towards a future where every Malaysian, regardless of gender, can age with dignity.Dr Julitta Onabanjo is the UNFPA in Malaysia Representative and Country Director of UNFPA in Thailand.  ___________________________________________________________________About United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, working to uphold the rights and choices of women, girls and young people across more than 150 countries. Through our work, we ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person can fulfil their potential.References: https://www.adb.org/publications/malaysia-ageing-retirement-survey-wave…https://recare.my/https://asiapacific.unfpa.org/en/news/ageing-societies-youth-potential-unfpa-asean-forum-explores-future-southeast-asias-populationshttps://malaysia.unfpa.org/en/news/op-ed-changing-narrative-fertility-rateshttps://malaysia.unfpa.org/en/news/op-ed-narrowing-data-gaps-ensure-no-woman-or-girl-malaysia-left-behind

Malaysia is undergoing a rapid demographic transition. By 2030, one in six Malaysians will be aged 60 or above. Combined with rising noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) rates and widening social inequalities, the need for cities to foster healthier living environments has never been more urgent.WHO organized the Mayors’ Meeting on Strengthening Healthy Settings under Age Friendly Cities & Communities along with the Penang Island City Council and the Penang Women’s Development Corporation (PWDC) on 25–26 November. The meeting witnessed participation from various city representatives of Malaysia (both AFCC Member cities and others), as well as representatives from the region.In Malaysia, as in many countries, the cities are at the centre of rapid change as the country moves rapidly toward becoming an ageing nation. Nearly 80 per cent of Malaysians now live in urban areas.  Urban challenges such as NCDs, air pollution, climate impacts, road traffic accidents, and widening inequalities remind us that health is shaped by the places where people live, work, study and age. This is why the role of mayors and city leaders is so critical. Cities are not only administrative units; they are living systems where policy decisions translate directly into healthier or unhealthier daily lives. Welcoming the participants, Dr Deepa Gamage, Public Health Specialist-Disease Control shared “This Mayors’ Meeting brings together a truly unique group including, local government leaders, health officials, international partners and advocates who all share one mission, to strengthen healthy settings and make our cities that enable people to live well with good health, wellbeing, and resilience, at every stage of life.” She added, “The World Health Organization remains committed to supporting Malaysia and its cities through technical guidance, best practices and stronger collaboration across Western Pacific Region, partnerships with networks represented here today.”  Participants emphasized that creating healthy, age-friendly communities requires more than health services alone; it demands political commitment, cross-sector collaboration, and people-centred city planning. The meeting aimed to do exactly that. Leaders examined how Malaysia can accelerate a healthy life-course approach, which supports well-being from childhood to older age through Healthy Cities, Healthy Schools, Healthy Workplaces, Age-Friendly Environments, and other settings-based initiatives. It provided a platform for learning from practical experiences in Malaysia and other ASEAN countries, especially the innovative, people-centred solutions that make healthy living easier and more accessible for everyone. Penang, already recognized for its innovative approaches to age-friendly and inclusive urban development, provided a fitting backdrop. Its commitment to mobility, gender-responsive planning, community participation and digital inclusion showcased what is possible when cities put healthy living at the heart of governance. Against the backdrop of Penang’s leadership in healthy and age-friendly urban planning, the meeting brought together city mayors, national policymakers, healthy settings networks, civil society groups, academia and WHO experts from regional and country office to chart the next phase of Malaysia’s Healthy Settings movement. We truly believe, the future strength of the cities depends on the health of our people. Our aim is for the older persons to live a productive and dignified life sustaining financial security, way beyond retirement. We are also ready to take on a broader role for supporting, guiding and coaching other Malaysian cities to be part of the Age Friendly Cities & Communities network,” said Dato’ Ir. Rajendran P. Anthony, Mayor, City Council of Penang Island. The Mayors’ Meeting focused on strengthening political commitment with city and national leaders discussing the urgent need to reduce NCDs risk factors, tackle the social determinants of health and build environments that empower older adults to maintain independence and functional ability. While reinforcing the role of local governments as essential partners in national health goals. It also focused on sharing experiences and lessons from cities across Malaysia and selected ASEAN countries. With representatives showcasing practical solutions, from active mobility and age-friendly transport to community inclusion, housing design and preventive health programmes. Officials and experts also outlined strategies to expand, scale, sustain and measure initiatives in the country, ensuring long-term impact and accountability.The meeting featured many high-level roundtable discussions, and fire-side chat sessions. In one of the key sessions,Good Practices, Lessons Learned, and Key Considerations for Ensuring Healthy Cities Moving Forward. Datuk Wee Hong Seng, Kuching South City Council Mayor shared “We are here not only to share what we have done for our cities, but also to learn a lot from other’s experiences.’ He added “I would like to see many other cities from Malaysia joining the WHO Age Friendly Cities & Communities Network as we need to form a larger collective and learn from the experiences, and it is worthy cause of investing our time and efforts.” As the meeting concluded, participants expressed optimism, not only about improving health, but also about creating cities where every person, regardless of age or background can thrive.