The Women's Centre for Change, Penang (WCC) is heartened to read of the government's commitment to end discrimination against women in Malaysia at the recent Non-Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting on the Advancement of Women.

We now have the Putrajaya Declaration (2005), bearing similar sentiments to the Beijing Platform for Action (1995) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979), which Malaysia ratified in 1995, albeit with reservations.

Experience has shown that ratifying international conventions, let alone adopting declarations, does not ensure its full and effective implementation at the local level. Passing laws, formulating policies, enshrining our rights in the Constitution only means women have formal equality.

Formal equality is important it shows that at the very least, women's rights are recognised and at the most that it has the force of law, which should be enforceable to benefit women.

But are we really able to enforce our rights? Are we really able to obtain justice?

Take the recent Beatrice Fernandez case , where her employer, Malaysia Airlines System, terminated her services when she became pregnant. Hers is a clear example of gender discrimination with formal equality under Article 8(2) of our Federal Constitution not bringing about substantive equality i.e., actual justice for Fernandez.

It is meaningless to have a principle of non-discrimination in the Federal Constitution if it is interpreted to only apply when women are discriminated by the government or one of its agencies. Where does this leave women who are discriminated by fellow private citizens be they persons or corporations?

In reality, our progress, despite our efforts, in trying to obtain both formal and substantive equality at the local level has been slow.

The Joint Action Group Against Violence Against Women (JAG-VAW), of which WCC is a member, has long campaigned for the amendments of all forms of laws and regulations that discriminate against women.

Over the last 20 years, JAG-VAW has submitted various memoranda to the government including more recently on the Sexual Harassment bill, amendments to the rape laws, the Domestic Violence Act, the Islamic Family Law and on other laws that continue to discriminate against women.

Over the years, our lobbying for gender equality with various ministers and government officials has yielded poor returns; little has actually taken place, even though we are encouraged by them to continue with our 'good work'.

What WCC would like to see is for the government to put their commitment to ending gender discrimination into practice.

WCC would also like the government to note that while ratifying conventions and adopting declarations and passing legislations are important steps forward, we must be aware that these alone will not end gender discrimination or ensure gender equality.

Working towards gender equality is no small task. It is an ongoing process of public education, legal, social and political reform which involves everyone - both women and men, from lawmakers to judges, from ministers to the ordinary citizen.

A tremendous amount of work needs to be done to create a greater awareness and understanding of gender issues in our society before any of us can expect to see effective change.