Fatimah (seated, third right) and the SDCS line-up for the 2016-2018 term.
KUCHING: Social Development Council of Sarawak (SDCS) will focus on nine key areas with regard to tackling social issues.
The nine are drugs, sexually transmitted disease/HIV/AIDS, rape, teenage pregnancy, divorce, domestic violence, school dropouts, citizenship and poverty.
Welfare, Women and Community Wellbeing Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah disclosed this yesterday at a press conference on SDCS.
Earlier, she witnessed the appointment of council members for the 2016-2018 term at Wisma Baitulmakmur near here.
Adding on, the minister said SDCS would conduct research on the social issues based on the 10 core pillars, before implementing programmes slated for addressing them.
The pillars are the family institution, capacity-building, housing, social harmony, public safety, social space and infrastructure, good governance and practices, environmental security, society and health protection. She said SDCS would also come up with a ‘State Social Wellness Index’ to indicate social wellness and identify social problems across different divisions in the state.
According to her, Sarawak would be the first state in Malaysia to have such index, which is implemented in countries like Switzerland and Bhutan.
The SDCS – chaired by Fatimah – has 19 members. It was set up in 1984 by the then-chief minister, Head of State Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud to provide input for the state’s development and planning to ensure balance across all aspects, including social matters.
On May 31 this year, the council was transferred to the Welfare, Women and Community Wellbeing Ministry.