KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Razak launched a women community group program that aims to enable women to report crime and threats to national security. The 1 Malaysia Perwani Community program, which aims to set up 100,000 Perwani groups throughout Malaysia comprising 10 to 20 women each, will be linked to organizations like the Police Families Association (Perkep), the Malaysian Armed Forces Family Welfare Association (Bakat) and the Wives of Civil Servants and Women Civil Servants Association (Puspanita). “The role of the Perwani group is to be the eyes and ears of the government in fighting crime and threats to national security," said Najib in a speech at the One Million Women Purple Walk event at Dataran Putrajaya here today. “This can be achieved through current organizations like residents' associations, Puspanita, Perkep, Bakat, Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs), and other NGOs like women's and single mothers' groups," he added. Najib also stressed to the crowd of thousands of women dressed in purple that the government wanted to empower women and include them in the mainstream of the country's development process. “In our struggle to realize our country's vision, women play an important role," he said at the event celebrating International Women's Day 2013. Najib pointed out that 30 out of 62 High Court judges are women. He also urged government-linked corporations to appoint at least one woman in their boards. BN
