FORMER Moyog assemblyman Jenifer Lasimbang confirmed she has officially left politics and has no plans to return, shifting her focus to Indigenous rights and global advocacy.
“I officially left in 2022 and have been working with civil society organisations (CSOs) until today,” she said.
Lasimbang, who served as Sabah’s Assistant Education and Innovation Minister, said she is now engaged in international advocacy.
“I am already working with an Asian-level funding mechanism and may rejoin a United Nations agency next,” she said.
Lasimbang explained that one of the reasons for her departure from politics was a request to strengthen Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia (JOAS), a national Indigenous network.
“I was requested to rebuild JOAS, which needed me to sacrifice my political party and platform to maintain my impartiality,” she said.
Lasimbang first entered politics with PKR before joining Warisan, under which she won the Moyog seat in 2018.
While her work as an assemblyman focused on education and innovation, she had been active in community advocacy long before entering the political arena.
Before her time in politics, she was a key figure in Indigenous rights and community development, particularly through her work with PACOS Trust, where she focused on land rights, cultural preservation, and socio-economic programmes.
She also held leadership roles in JOAS and, more recently, the Indigenous Peoples of Asia Solidarity Fund (IPAS), where she has been executive director since May 2024.
Lasimbang’s work has extended beyond Malaysia.
Between 2014 and 2017, she worked as a consultant for UNICEF Malaysia, focusing on children’s rights and community development.
From 2008 to 2009, she was part of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Bangkok, Thailand, contributing to Indigenous empowerment programmes across Asia.
While she has ruled out a return to politics, she said she remains committed to community development.
“I am already at world-level politics. I joined politics because I wanted to do community development, and I will continue to do so on any platform,” she said. - March 12, 2025
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