Women, Youths Muslim World’s Asset, Says Najib

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 (Bernama) — Women and youths are essentially beacons of hope in the Muslim world as they have the greatest potential to contribute constructively to the advancement of the Muslim world, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Sunday.

The Deputy Prime Minister said women who by their very nature were inherently well-organised, and the youths, who possess innovative thoughts, were crucial for the development of the Muslim world.

They have always been the determining factors behind the success of civilizations, he said in his joint opening keynote address at the World Islamic Economic Forum’s (Wief) Businesswomen Forum and Wief’s Young Leaders’ Forum at the Putra World Trade Centre here.

Najib stressed that the successful cultivation of these two groups have been the main reason why civilizations continue to sustain and reinvent themselves, build a strong and solid foundation for a healthy society.

As such, he said, the lack of attention towards these two groups had been the main reason for the breakdown of society in the past, as well as the present as could be seen now in certain societies in the Muslim world.

"Unfortunately, in some societies in the Muslim world, scant attention is given to the women and youth, a worrying trend that can prove and has already proven detrimental to the development of Muslim societies all over the world," he said.

Najib said there was a serious lack of representation of women in certain Muslim societies, thus giving rise to gender marginalisation and confining women solely to the private domain and depriving their rights to contribute to the development of society.

In the same vein, he said, the youths were also deprived of their right to assume leadership responsibilities and the right to voice out innovative opinions.

"Our communities are becoming more fragmented and traditional support for women and youths are no longer as readily as they once were. This makes it vital that we develop ways to ensure women and young people receive the guidance and support they need, we just don’t leave it to chance," he said.

Najib also said women and young people giving their time and energy to positive causes like grooming and mentoring were vital to building Muslim communities’ social capital.

"Social capital is about women and young people not living as isolated units, but recognising that we are all part of our community and we all have something to contribute to that community," he said.

"The more we can do to help women and young people find their place in the world and move forward with confidence, the better the future looks, he said.

Najib also stressed the importance of small-and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in the development of an economy.

He said a recent Forbes report had concluded that SMEs constitute a major component of a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

"Coupled with the nature of women as trustworthy and credit-worthy entrepreneurs, a special focus on SMEs will certainly be a big boost for the development of these enterprises in the Muslim world," he added.

Themed "Nurturing our Best Resources — the Women and the Youth of the Muslim World" one-day forum is being attended by participants from Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kuwait, Morocco, Pakistan, Uganda and Britain.

The Wief Businesswomen Forum and Wief Young Leaders Forum are held as a prelude to the Third World Islamic Economic Forum which starts here tomorrow.