The latest CEDAW report from November 2018 continued to have recommendations for Malaysia to adopt the gender equality act which centre mainly around the need for the country to “take immediate measures to ensure that the Convention and its provisions are incorporated into national law and become fully enforceable in the national legal system” and to “take effective measures that civil law and Syariah law are in full compliance with the provisions of the Convention at the local, state and federal levels so as to ensure that the rights of all women are legally guaranteed on an equal footing through the State party.” At the recent UPR review (from 5 to 16 November 2018), ‘the Government of Malaysia claimed that it does not discriminate against the LGBTIQ community and their rights are protected in accordance with domestic laws.’ The reality, however, is far from so.
Supported by the European Union, the Gender Equality Initiative in Malaysia, the project aims to contribute to the implementation of relevant CEDAW and UPR concluding observations and recommendations specifically the adoption of the gender equality act that aims to abolish discriminatory laws and policies against women and girls and fulfill the human rights of LGBTIQ community against discrimination and violence in Malaysia.
We aim to achieve this through two specific objectives: (1) To enable a wide range of Malaysian CSOs to conduct advocacy and public engagement on the ratification and implementation of relevant core international human rights conventions as well as on the adoption of the gender equality act and (2) To enhance the capacities of decision-makers in Terengganu and Perak; and federal levels to implement the concluding observation from the last CEDAW review (2018) and UPR recommendations, especially those related towards fulfilling the human rights of women, girls and LGBTIQ communities against discrimination and violence in Malaysia.
