Yayasan Salam recently embarked on a new project titled “Wira Wanita” (Heroines in Bahasa Malaysia), focusing on empowering stay-at-home mothers with life skills they need in their day-to-day lives.
The majority of the beneficiaries are single mothers from lower socioeconomic groups living in rural pockets of Malaysia: these women generally do not have access to resources and knowledge that urban mothers have.
The “Wira Wanita” programme is divided into 3 sections, each module with its own focus:
- “Mother Motivator” imparts new parenting methods, and how they can become motivators for their children;
- “Manic Mom”, trains women on First Aid application and how to handle various emergencies at home such as fires, electrical short circuits, and even natural disasters and basic self defence
- “Raising Above”, provides an overview of domestic violence, the goal being to teach women their rights and who they can reach out to in domestic violence cases.
The training modules will include break-out discussions, sharing and reflection sessions, as well as hands-on training and ‘simulations’, and will be conducted in various locations around Malaysia over a two-year period.
Empowering women is a growing priority in a progressive nation like Malaysia. In line with working towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal No. 5 (Achieve Gender Equality and Empower All Women and Girls), Yayasan Salam will continue to develop women empowerment projects to end discrimination and violence against women.