Women Leadership Chair Uplifts Status Of Women - Minister

PUTRAJAYA, March 31 (Bernama) -- The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry has set up a Women Leadership Chair at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) to conduct research on women leadership at both national and international levels. Its minister, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, said the chair would provide policy input to the government in regard to women leadership. Apart from that, she said the chair would also conduct leadership trainings for women and organise advocacy activities to enhance public awareness and understanding of the issues of women in today's society and of the future. "The Women Leadership Chair, which is the first in its series, is a new benchmark in our struggles to uplift the status of women in the country. "The setting up of the chair is also an investment in line with the government's aspiration to increase the participation of women of calibre and exceptional intellectual, as well as good leadership value, to achieve the national agenda to develop quality human capital," she said at the launch of the chair here Friday. At the same event, Shahrizat also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the setting up of the chair between the ministry and UKM. The MoU was inked by the ministry's secretary-general Dr Noorul Ainur Mohd Nur and UKM vice-chancellor Dr Wira Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hassan Shahabuddin. Shahrizat also presented a start-up grant of RM500,000 to Sharifah Hapsah. She said the chair's holder would be appointed by a special committee later. Meanwhile, Sharifah Hapsah said UKM would use the grant to ensure that the chair's holder would be selected among distinguished leadership scholars who would also spread knowledge on women leadership in Malaysia. "Intellectual discourse, research, publications and knowledge-sharing activities on women leadership will be organised comprehensively with the chair's holder. "We are confident that the Women Leadership Chair will build a critical mass of women leaders and will transform personal, family, community and intitutional leadership," she added. -- BERNAMA