KUALA LUMPUR, June 22 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today announced a total of RM50 million in matching grants to Yayasan Hasanah, which is allocated via Budget 2023 under the Hasanah Special Grant 4.
Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, said the partnership between the Ministry of Finance and Yayasan Hasanah has enabled the largest funding to civil society and social enterprises from the government.
“I am appreciative of the support and leadership of Yayasan Hasanah and Khazanah Nasional. Hasanah Special Grants also enabled significant growth in income generation amongst vulnerable communities.
“We have seen the emergence of success stories of local grassroots startups and social and impact businesses, through collaborative efforts contributing to increasing Malaysia’s economic competitiveness and building national resilience while delivering socioeconomic benefits and impacts for the people,” he said.
Anwar was speaking in his closing keynote address, which was read by Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri during the Hasanah Forum and Asia Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN) Global Conference 2023 at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre today.
The Prime minister also congratulated Yayasan Hasanah and the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network for taking the important stride of tackling mental wellbeing amongst youths in Asia with the establishment of the Asian Youth Mental Wellbeing Philanthropic Pooled Fund.
He said the purpose of the fund is to increase the accessibility of mental health services across Malaysians and across the region by encouraging and mobilising more capital alongside facilitating conversations among donors.
“Based on the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2022, suicidal thoughts among adolescents have been growing for the past decade as in 2017, it was 10 per cent, and this has risen to 13 per cent in 2022.
“Depression has also been increasing with the latest numbers indicating one in four adolescents are depressed. I imagine the numbers must be rising as well in other countries.
“It is especially crucial for our youth to have access to the right resources and to safe avenues for treatment, as it is our young women and young men who are the future of Malaysia and of all the countries represented here today,” Anwar said.
— Bernama
