KOTA KINABALU - Women, Family and Community Development Ministry (KPWKM) will, among others, focus on efforts to enhance training and guidance in the care economy through Budget 2024 that will be tabled next month.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said the commitment was important to meet market demands as well as ensure that individuals involved in the care economy, which refers to jobs providing services to help individuals in need, are trained and skilled.
"This is because some say there are no jobs for people to take care of those in need such as the disabled, including children and the elderly.
"As such, we aim to produce trained caretakers," she told reporters after officiating the Sabah Women's Income Generation Programme (WeJana) 2023 here, today.
Nancy said her ministry is also committed to continuing to strengthen the 2 Years Exit Programme (2YEP) to help more women get involved in business and go on to generate economy and income.
Regarding the WeJana 2023 programme, Nancy said it focuses on housewives who are involved in unpaid care work so that they can earn income while carrying out their responsibilities as carers.
She said the main objective of the programme was to guide the participants to generate self-income and provide systematic training for them to start a business, especially online business.
Nancy said 35 of the 200 selected participants in the programme were from Sabah, with four aspects highlighted in the guidance module covering financial management, sales and marketing, business branding and customer service.
She said WeJana is also part of the ministry's commitment to providing an ecosystem that supports efforts to increase opportunities and participation of women in the economy, besides financial assistance through the Wanita Bangkit initiative implemented by the National Welfare Foundation (YKN).
"This is a continuation of the women's empowerment programme implemented strategically through KPWKM agencies to generate income for women and reduce their dependence on others," she said. - BERNAMA