Empowering B40 Women in Malaysia: A Socioeconomic Impact Assessment of the Ecer-Suri@home Program

Abstract

Women can be categorised as one of the marginalised and disadvantaged groups in Malaysia. With the COVID-19 pandemic that has hit Malaysia over the past three years, the vulnerability of Malaysian women in aspects of mental health and limited or inflexible occupations has increased. ECER-Suri@Home is a socioeconomic development program designed for women in ECER, especially housewives and single mothers with mobility constraints, to engage in home-based businesses, such as tenun and songket weaving, as a means to help them earn regular additional income. This study aims to assess the socioeconomic impact of the ECER-Suri@Home program on the participants and explore how the monitoring practice used can influence the sustainability of the program in empowering the wellbeing of B40 women in Terengganu. This study employed quantitative and qualitative approaches in data collection by distributing questionnaires to the program’s participants and in-depth interviews with several key informants from ECERDC and Yayasan Pembangunan Keluarga Terengganu. The outcome of this study revealed that this program has had a high impact on the economic status of the participants. The monthly monitoring visit has increased the productivity and quality of the tenun songket produced by the participants; however, this program would not be sustainable for the next cohort due to the difficulty in finding suitable participants.