Our Journey
Institut Kemajuan Wanita Malaysia (translated the Malaysian Women’s Advancement Institute) or IKWAM as it has been acronymed was approved and incorporated under the Ministry of Trade and Industry Malaysia in March of 1987. In September of the same year IKWAM was proud to be officially launched by the Right Honourable Tun Dr Siti Hasmah, the nation’s First Lady and wife of the then 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia – a fitting start to an organisation comprising of driven individuals, activists and credible NGOs dedicated primarily towards any and all initiatives associated with the promotion, development and advancement of women in Malaysia. Since then IKWAM with its founder and lifetime President the Hon. Tan Sri Dr Siti Zaharah Sulaiman, have embarked on numerous community service related projects from flood rescues to aboriginal engagement to promoting positive and safe internet use among youth and educators.
The story of IKWAM in the last thirty three years was the story of women and their personal growth, about overcoming fears and surmounting social perceptions, about living healthier lives, for some about overcoming poverty and raising the standard of living for their children, families and communities, about economic inclusion, for others about finding a real voice in political suffrage – about succeeding and feeling that they are deserving of success, about having the courage of coming into their own.
Today, over three decades later Malaysian women who have come a long way, have tripled in resilience and more determined than ever that every woman and girl in their succeeding generations should never have to suffer the inequalities they did. IKWAM will be instrumental in helping these resolute women make the quantum leap and invest in a future they will themselves shape.
The story of IKWAM in the last thirty three years was the story of women and their personal growth, about overcoming fears and surmounting social perceptions, about living healthier lives, for some about overcoming poverty and raising the standard of living for their children, families and communities, about economic inclusion, for others about finding a real voice in political suffrage – about succeeding and feeling that they are deserving of success, about having the courage of coming into their own.
Today, over three decades later Malaysian women who have come a long way, have tripled in resilience and more determined than ever that every woman and girl in their succeeding generations should never have to suffer the inequalities they did. IKWAM will be instrumental in helping these resolute women make the quantum leap and invest in a future they will themselves shape.