Dato’ Sri Dr Noraini Ahmad, Deputy Minister of Women, Family, and Community Development, has officiated the 2025 International Women’s Day Celebration (SHWA25) Southern Zone held at AEON Mall Bandar Dato’ Onn, Johor Bahru.
SHWA25 carries the theme ‘Inspiring Women, Building a Legacy,’ recognising the role and contribution of women in various fields, including education, economy, and politics. For SHWA25 Southern Zone, this focus is on the health segment, which is very important for women, who are pillars of family well-being and contributors to the country’s economic development.
The 2025 International Women’s Day Celebration at the Southern Zone was the third location of the SHWA25 tour after the Borneo Zone in Sarawak, the Eastern Zone in Terengganu and followed by the Central Zone celebration in Negeri Sembilan and the Northern Zone in Perak.
Dato’ Sri Dr Noraini Ahmad, in her speech, said that women not only play the role of mothers, wives, and children but also play a role as important workforce contributors in driving the country’s economy. Therefore, women’s health factors are an important element that needs to be taken into account in efforts to improve women’s well-being.
She said that the Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development (KPWKM) through the Women’s Development Department (JPW) is committed to implementing various efforts to help women in health aspects such as managing stress and achieving balance in life, as well as creating a more conducive environment. Psychosocial support programs, counselling, and mental health initiatives have also been expanded so that all women, regardless of background, receive appropriate assistance.
This is consistent with the MADANI Government’s commitment to defending women’s rights and welfare.
These initiatives were implemented in response to the fact that women are twice as likely as men to be depressed. The National Health and Morbidity Survey provide evidence for this – (NHMS) 2022, reported that 26.9% of adolescents met the criteria for depression, with a higher prevalence among women (36.1%) than men (17.7%).
The celebration of International Women’s Day in the Southern Zone and SHWA25 as a whole hopes to raise awareness and spread knowledge about the challenges faced by women today and the initiatives provided by the MADANI government to help them out there.
As a country that signed the Beijing Declaration in 1995, Malaysia has taken steps to ensure that the principles of gender equality and human rights will continue to be upheld.
Also present were Datuk Hajah Kalsom binti Nordin, Melaka Women, Family and Community Development Exco, Norliyati binti Md. Nor, Johor Deputy Secretary to the Government (Project Monitoring & People’s Wellbeing), Datuk Dr. Maziah binti Che Yusoff, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Hanani Sapit, Director-General of JPW and senior officials of the Ministry, Departments, and Agencies of KPWKM.
 Southern Zone held at AEON Mall Bandar Dato' Onn, Johor Bahru.){kind=link}