UN HONOURS MALAYSIAN MINISTER WITH FAMILY AWARD

KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 (Bernama) -- Women, Family and Community Development
Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Tuesday was honoured by the United
Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and World Family Organization (WFO)
with the UN ECOSOC/WFO Family Award.

The ministry in a statement said the award was given in recognition of
Shahrizat's commitment to the implementation of public policies for the benefit
of women and families and strengthening regional cooperation to improve
educational outcomes.

It said that other recipients of the UN ECOSOC/WFO Family Award were
Princess
Haya Al Hussein of Jordan and Director-General of the Islamic Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO), Dr Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri.

While accepting the award at the UN Headquarters in Geneva, Shahrizat said
the award was recognition of the good work the ministry had done and that it was
is an honour for the country and the ministry, in particular its agency, the
National Population and Family Development Board (NPFDB).

"It is also an incentive for the ministry to continue positioning family
development at the heart of the national agenda," Shahrizat said.

The statement said that in her keynote address, Shahrizat highlighted the
role the ministry has played, through its agency the NPFDB, in developing
strong, resilient and healthy families towards achieving the Millennium
Development Goal 2 (achieving universal primary education).

Over the past decade, families in Malaysia have been beneficiaries of
numerous family-friendly policies, educational programmes and services, which
have created an enabling environment for children to access education.

The statement said the country had achieved virtual gender parity in access
to education for boys and girls.

"In 2009, the literacy rate among boys aged 15 to 24 years old was 97.2 per
while for girls it was 97.3 per cent," it said.

Examples of successful programmes the ministry has championed included
family education modules that focus on parenting, adolescent reproductive health
and social development, and family financial management, the statement said.


"These topics are now being introduced as a co-curricular subject at the
undergraduate level at the Northern University of Malaysia (UUM)," it added.

The UN ECOSOC/WFO Family Award is the second of such awards given by the
United Nations to Malaysia through the Ministry of Women, Family and Community
Development.

In 2007, the NPFDB was awarded the United Nations Population Award
in recognition of its achievement in the fields of reproductive health,
socio-demographic research and family development.