How effective is Budget 2024 for the average Malaysian woman?

A budget for upskilling and reskilling programmes and initiatives would have been beneficial–to encourage women, build their confidence and develop new skills in digital technology.

In Budget 2023, the government introduced several programmes to bring women back into the workforce–for example, Tekunita, Dananita and SemarakNita which are good but require clearer measures of the impact of these programmes and how we can scale up these efforts.

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Expanding the i-Suri and i-Sayang programmes under EPF to allow wives to transfer 2 per cent of their employee share contribution to their husbands is commendable. This reflects a deeper understanding of the lived realities in many Malaysian families and acknowledges shared care work in households.

It has the potential to account for househusbands and women breadwinners, ultimately fostering a more inclusive and equitable approach to family dynamics and economic responsibilities, where the roles and contributions of all family members are recognised and valued.

The RM10 million allocation under the Cervical Cancer Screening Programme and the RM6 million allocation for mammogram subsidies is laudable. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Malaysian women and is the leading cause of cancer deaths. This initiative is also in line with the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development’s WCare Programme launched in January 2023 to increase awareness about the importance of early screening to detect breast and cervical cancer and is congruent with the Ministry’s goal of achieving the global goal of zero incidences of cervical cancer by 2070.

There are insufficient allocations made for girls and sexual and reproductive health rights, which is crucial in Malaysia. In Budget 2022, there was an allocation to help with period poverty, however, but we do not know the impact of it. Knowing that one-third of children in Malaysia are engaging in sexual activities before the age of 14 and 88 per cent of them are not using any form of contraceptives is of grave concern (NHMS Survey 2022). We need to ensure children are equipped with knowledge of their reproductive health, bodily autonomy, and consent.

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More focus must be made towards service providers like the Department of Social Welfare and KEMAS, who work with our most marginalised and vulnerable communities. They uphold our social protection work and further allocations for childcare centres, taskas and Tadikas. We must invest in our service providers as they form the backbone of our community.

Budgetary measures must be designed with a gender-responsive lens. There is much room to strengthen our existing systems and structures that will ensure better support. If we want to encourage women’s economic participation, we must first understand the myriad challenges and the importance of crosscutting focus on gender across the board. There must be a holistic approach taken as women play significant roles across different facets of society–education, healthcare, employment and more.

Finally, to ensure the efficacy of policies and initiatives, there must be robust monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment in place. We hope to see the government and society continue working towards a comprehensive approach that is intersectional and that includes rigorous reporting on the impact of Budget 2024.

Sharm Ravindran is the president of Women’s Aid Organisation. She also is the founder and managing partner of Ravindran Advocates & Solicitors, a boutique law practice based in Kuala Lumpur. She practices dispute resolution and corporate advisory. Her unwavering dedication to promoting women's rights in Malaysia is seen throughout her career, including her role as chairperson of the Gender Equality & Diversity Committee under the Kuala Lumpur Bar between 2018 to 2020 and her present position as director at Lean in Malaysia, a platform to empower and support women in corporate Malaysia.

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