Fatimah: Sarawak govt’s initiatives successfully reduce poverty

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Fatimah delivers her speech at the state-level Women’s Day 2024 celebration in Sibu. – Sarawak Public Communications Unit photo

KUCHING (Aug 11) The Sarawak government has successfully played a crucial role in helping its citizens escape the cycle of poverty, said Minister of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.

She emphasised that this success has instilled confidence in the effectiveness of Sarawak’s various social innovations and government initiatives, which have significantly increased household incomes and lifted many out of poverty.

“At this event, we wish to share our confidence that the Sarawak Social Wellbeing Index (SSWI) has improved from 6.21 in 2019 to 7.18 in 2023. We believe this is largely due to social innovations and government policies aimed at empowering and improving the wellbeing of not just women but also the disadvantaged and needy in our society, guided by the principles of social inclusivity in the PCDS 2030.

“We are also confident that various forms of social innovation, particularly through the initiatives of the Sarawak government, have been able to increase household incomes and lift them out of poverty,” she said in her speech at the state-level Women’s Day 2024 celebration held at a hotel in Sibu yesterday.

Fatimah also highlighted the sharp decrease in the number of hardcore poor households recorded in the e-Kasih database, from 30,346 in January 2023 to 3,571 as of July 31 this year.

She attributed this reduction to increased incomes driven by social innovations and government policies.

“The Sarawak District Office (SDO) and our Ministry will continue to verify the data in e-Kasih.

“Those who no longer qualify should not be listed as hardcore poor, and those who have not received assistance will be matched accordingly.

“Our ministry has set the goal to verify the remaining 3,571 by the end of this year,” she said.

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