Dr Azrinah Rahman

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Starting Point

The Centre for Strategic and Policy Studies (CSPS) is the premier policy research centre in Brunei Darussalam. It is engaged with the Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Sports on the Women in Development project. Dr. Azrinah Rahman is a researcher at the CSPS and leads the Public and Social Policy Unit. Her research focuses on future skills and education, work-life balance policies, intergenerational solidarity, gender disparity, women's status in society, and early childhood development. Her expertise is in qualitative research, which includes substantial literature reviews, data collection, and analysis, as well as conducting focus groups, in-depth interviews, and surveys. Dr. Azrinah has led several research projects including Mid Term Review of the ASEAN Socio Cultural Blueprint (ASCC), Evaluation of Current Policy Measures in achieving its Key Performance indicators (KPI) in Addressing Youth Unemployment, A Study of Reasons for the Commission of Theft by Convicted Persons Currently in Prison and Women Development in Brunei Darussalam.

Peace Journey 

Dr. Azrinah was the lead researcher for the National Women Development in Brunei Darussalam project, which was carried out in 2022. She and her team examined about 11 crucial domains for women in Brunei Darussalam. COVID was one specific domain that the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, requested during that project, especially regarding the pandemic's impact on women. In that study, she and her team identified gaps in certain areas.

Success Stories 

In Dr. Azrinah’s research, she found that there is currently no problem with women and education, even there are more women graduates than men. However, as her research explored the workforce field, she discovered an issue of segregation. This occurs because women are often married and have children. Women are perceived as primary caregivers, and such a role can hold them back emotionally. So, women need to find a balance between work and family. Therefore, she suggest that  there is a need to provide better support for women, especially in the workplace. 

She also wants to emphasise that the issue of women's health and well-being needs to be highlighted. Another issues she mention is domestic violence, that although the reported cases in Brunei Darussalam are relatively low it might be caused by the prevailing perception that it is a private matter remains deeply entrenched