SUHAKAM’s REPORT TO THE UNITED NATIONS COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN 3.9.2 RIGHTS OF SINGLE MOTHERS (i) According to the 2000 Population and Housing Census of Malaysia, there were 126,810 single Mothers in Malaysia. On 20 October 2010, the Commission organised a seminar with the objectives of raising awareness among the participants on existing policies and available assistance for single mothers, as well as their rights as women, particularly single mothers; identifying issues and problems faced by single mothers in Malaysia; and finding solutions to those issues so that this group can fully enjoy their economic, social and cultural rights. Following the meeting, recommendations were made to the MWFCD in relation to the issue of poverty, rights of employment, childcare centre and housing. (ii) Referring to the issue of housing for single mothers, Commission found that there exist difficulties in transferring the ownership of the public houses to widowed single mothers. Hence, the Commission recommends that the policy on houses built under the Public Housing Programme and the People’s Housing Programme be reviewed. Meanwhile, the Commission recommends that the Government intensify its efforts in building more public housing lots in all areas including the rural and remote areas in Sabah and Sarawak. (iii) The Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (MWFCD) runs “A Single Mothers” Skill Incubator (I-KIT) Programme which is a core programme outlined in the 9th Malaysian Plan. This programme is aimed at providing skills and entrepreneur training to single mothers to reduce poverty include sewing handicraft, child care and food processing to improve the quality of single mothers’ life. (iv) The Malaysia Government should set up affordable and accessible childcare facilities for all working parents including single mothers especially in the lower income group. As reported in The Sun newspaper on 18 July 2012, there are 87 on site children centres or nurseries registered with the Social Welfare Department, 71 of which are operating in Government offices while the remaining 16 in private firms. There are another 1,061 registered independent childcare centres or nurseries. However the number of child facilities is grossly insufficient considering the number of working mothers. 15