Women’s Rights Conference 2024 - Unveiling Voices, Breaking the Bridle

YB Dato' Sri Hajah Nancy Binti Shukri, Minister of Women, Family and Community Development

YBhg. Datuk Dr. Maziah binti Che Yusoff, Secretary-General, Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development

Ms. Karen Cheah Yee Lyn, President of the Malaysian Bar Council

Ms. Honey Tan, Chairperson of the Bar Council Women’s Rights Committee 

Ladies and Gentlemen

I am honoured to address this esteemed audience today. I extend my sincere appreciation to the Malaysian Bar Council for inviting me to share some opening remarks on behalf of the United Nations in Malaysia. Congratulations on this event, celebrating women’s rights and the remarkable journey of Malaysia. We commend the Bar Council’s unwavering dedication to upholding human rights and freedoms, and your tireless advocacy for justice and equality for all.

Human rights belong to all people, regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or any other factor. The term "women's rights" emerged in response to historic and ongoing challenges that women and girls face.

Women's rights therefore refer to specific rights and freedoms that women and girls need to enjoy their human rights equally. They include the right to education, health care, freedom from violence and discrimination, political participation, and economic empowerment.

Today we gather to commemorate significant advancements in women's rights, applauding the recent milestones achieved in Malaysia. But as we celebrate remarkable strides, we must also acknowledge the sobering fact that much remains to be done to achieve gender equality. 

The full realization of women rights is not only essential for societal progress but also serve as a catalyst for economic prosperity and sustainable development. No society can thrive without the vital contribution of 50% of its population. 

We must act now to narrow the gaps. 

In my remarks, I will first provide a brief historical overview of the United Nations’ continued engagement in advancing women's rights globally. I will then talk about women’s rights in Malaysia in light of recent achievements and persisting challenges. 

Next, I would like to focus on the SDGs and highlight a few outcomes, particularly under SDG5 on gender equality and women’s empowerment. 

I will conclude with some highlights on our engagement as the UN in Malaysia, to amplify women’s voices and overcome barriers to the full enjoyment of their rights.

The UN Charter was signed on June 26, 1945, in San Francisco. 800 delegates attended. Only eight female delegates were present, but they played an instrumental role in the negotiations. They contributed to the drafting of the charter and the establishment of the United Nations. Four of the women delegates were among the 160 signatories of the UN Charter as representatives of their governments.

In 1946, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) was established. Several activists alongside the members of CSW had a decisive role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights between 1946 and 1948.

Women’s efforts helped ensure that the UDHR reflects the principles of equality, dignity, and human rights for all individuals, regardless of gender. Their unyielding efforts during the drafting process resulted in Article 1 reading, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” instead of “All men are born free and equal.”

On 18 December 1979, the General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, known as CEDAW.

On 15 September 1995, the Beijing Declaration was adopted as the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women.

Fast Forward to the year 2000, Security Council Resolution 1325 was adopted, acknowledging the role of women in the broad peace and security agenda. 

Also in 2000, the world embraced the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at tackling global poverty and inequality. Notably, Goal 3 directly focused on promoting gender equality and empowering women, recognizing it as a crucial driver for progress across all other goals. 

In 2015, the General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which integrates gender equality and women's empowerment across all SDGs, and acknowledges the intersectionality of SDG5 with all 17 goals. 

In recent years, the United Nations has become more women-friendly, although in its 78 years or existence, we have had only four women presidents of the UN GA, and no female SG (yet). 

In 2017, the Secretary-General launched the United Nations-wide Gender Parity Strategy. The strategy is not simply about achieving quantitative goals, although numbers matter, but about fostering an inclusive workplace and transforming the institutional culture. For a few years now, we have had as many women as men in senior positions.

While the Malaysian Constitution does not explicitly mention "women's rights”, it incorporates several key articles that uphold them, albeit indirectly. 

Articles 8, for example, prohibits discrimination based on gender, guaranteeing equal treatment under the law. Article 12 guarantees freedom of speech, assembly and association, crucial for women’s participation in public life. Article 14 provides equal protection under the law.

The Constitution is the overarching framework for realizing and protecting women’s rights, but like in many other countries, the legal landscape in Malaysia is complex, creating situations where women's rights may vary depending on their location, religion, or other factors. 

On the international front, Malaysia's dedication to upholding international norms and standards is evident in its ratification of three of the nine core Human Rights conventions. We hope that Malaysia will ratify other key human rights treaties. The ones Malaysia is currently party to, namely CEDAW, CRC and CRPD, all have a strong gender dimension. Malaysia is also actively engaged with reporting mechanisms.

Malaysia’s official accession to CEDAW in 1995 involved reservations to several articles. Over time, and after three review cycles, Malaysia has withdrawn some of its initial reservations, but a few remain, nonetheless. These include, notably, the one on Article 9(2) on nationality law, and reservations related to eliminating discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations.

In the three periodic reports to the CEDAW Committee, Malaysia has provided an update on progress in advancing gender equality and eliminating discrimination. We note and welcome several positive developments, including:

• The amendment, in 2018, of the Domestic Violence Act 1994, to include psychological abuse, including emotional injury. 
• Reforms adding clarity and affording protection to women on issues related to dissolution of marriage, payment of maintenance and protection of children.
• The passing of the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill 2021 
• The criminalization of stalking, virtual or otherwise
• the amendment of the Employment Act, raising paid maternity leave from 60 to 98 days (14 weeks) of paid maternity, and paternity leave from 3 to 7 days.

These examples, which will be reported in the next CEDAW review in May this year,demonstrate Malaysia’s readiness to guarantee an enabling environment for half its population to engage, thrive and contribute effectively.  A legal ecosystem anchored in human rights is critical to the achievement of Malaysia Madani aspirations and women have a critical role to play across sectors and spheres. 

We welcome the Government’s ongoing efforts and look forward to the constitutional revisions aimed to address longstanding inequities, notably in citizenship law relating to the children of Malaysian mothers born overseas. We also hope that other proposed revisions remain in line with international standards and Malaysia’s human rights commitments and do not pose any further risk for women or children. 

Moving on to the nexus between women’s rights and development, it is encouraging that both the Twelfth Malaysia Plan 2021-2025 and its mid-term review, as well as Ekonomi Madani strategically aim to reduce socio-economic inequality, ensure equal rights to work, and promote women’s participation.

For Malaysia, an upper-middle income country aspiring to high-income status within this decade, narrowing the gender gap is vital to achieving national targets and accelerating progress on the SDGs. 

Women’s participation in political and public life, remains a serious challenge for Malaysia which requires urgent action. In 2023, Malaysia ranked 102 out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap report, gaining only 1 rank since 2022, and lagging behind most ASEAN countries. 

Malaysia’s female labour participation rate also remains one of ASEAN’s lowest at about 56 percent, compared to 80 percent participation rate among men. On the other hand, women and girls aged 15 or over spend about 19% of their time on unpaid care and domestic work, compared to 6% spent by men.

Using SDGs as a lens to review the status of women’s rights, particularly SDG5 on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, progress is too slow given that we are at midpoint to 2023. 

It is worth mentioning that SDG5 globally faces many challenges, in terms of the structural reforms it requires, the rights-based dimension it is founded upon, and the data availability and disaggregation. This is particularly true for the Asia Pacific region and the ASEAN sub-region.

Zooming in on Malaysia, several targets are assessed to be off-track, including Target 5.1 directly linked to CEDAW (end all forms of discrimination against women and girls everywhere), Target 5.2 (End all violence against and exploitation of women and girls), Target 5.3 (Eliminate forced marriages and genital mutilation), and Target 5.5 (Ensure full participation in leadership and decision-making). 

Three targets are assessed as being on track, namely on access to reproductive rights and empowerment through technology. Two targets lack sufficient indicator data (value of unpaid care work and economic rights).

Across other SDGs, there is evidence of missed opportunities as women are more vulnerable to poverty, food insecurity, economic shocks, environmental degradation and climate change, among others. Addressing gender disparities and enabling women's participation in all sectors will accelerate progress, leading to more sustainable and equitable outcomes for all.

For the UN in Malaysia, this is a strategic entry point. Advancing gender equality and women's empowerment is at the core of our Cooperation Framework and engagement with government and non-government partners. We support policy reform, norm setting, advocacy, awareness and capacity building, and monitoring and reporting.

In the fight for women's rights, numbers matter. A significant presence of women in leadership, decision-making, and advocacy roles strengthens their collective voice, empowering them to network, offer support, and drive progress. 

However, increasing the numbers is not a technical question, but a societal, political, rights issue which requires political will, awareness and education, and the engagement of all stakeholders in championing women’s rights, understanding their needs, and ensuring that quantity drives quality.

I will end here and thank you for your attention.