‘Gloria’s appointment an inspiration to other women’

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Gloria Corina Peter Tiwet

KUCHING: The appointment of Gloria Corina Peter Tiwet as the new Malaysian High Commissioner to Nigeria is an inspiration and a role model for other young women in Sarawak.

Saying this was Minister of Welfare, Community Well Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah, who is also Women and Family Council (MWKS) chairperson.

She also congratulated Gloria for being the first Bidayuh woman to be appointed to such position.

“We are very proud of her achievement. She is an inspiration and role model for other young women.

“Her steady rise in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a good example of what educational and career opportunities mean for our women,” Fatimah said when contacted yesterday.

The minister disclosed that ‘Women in Decision-Making and Leadership’ was one of the seven strategic thrusts of MWKS for this year.

“We hope to see more women in leadership position and greater participation in decision-making. Malaysia has seen great strides by women in higher education as they constitute 60 to 70 per cent of enrolment in public universities.

“Marked progress has been observed in terms of woman in leadership and decision-making position in the state civil service.

“Nevertheless, MWKS would like to see improvement in the number of parliamentarians, assemblywomen, councillors and residents (as per research by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak for Ministry of Welfare, Community Well Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development in 2017),” she said.

Fatimah added that MWKS in its ‘Strategic Planning for 2018’ would focus on capacity-building to prepare women in these areas to make them ‘broad-ready’.

“In the meantime, we wish Gloria a successful tour of duty in Nigeria,” she said.

When contacted, Dayak Bidayuh National Association (DBNA) president Datu Ik Pahon Joyik hoped that Gloria, who hails from Kampung Singai in Bau would carry out her duties diligently, and to ensure better diplomatic relations with Nigeria.

“On behalf of DBNA, we would like to congratulate her and hope that she will do well in her new assignment,” added Ik Pahon.

Gloria is the second Bidayuh to be appointed high commissioner/ambassador after Datuk John Tenewi Nuek.

Prior to her appointment, she was the director of Sarawak Regional Office in the Foreign Ministry. Prior to that, she was the director of the Asean Main Logistics Secretariat of the Foreign Ministry from 2015 to 2016, and had also served in various capacities in Sweden, Argentina and Chile.

Gloria was one of five people who received their instruments of appointment as Malaysian envoys from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V at Istana Negara on Monday.