Georgetown : On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2017, Women For Change (WFC) and arn of the Alliance For Change Party, takes the opportunity to call on all citizens including political leaders, members of the public and private sectors, academia and all civil society, to take action to support gender inclusivity.
WFC notes that that while legislative measures guarantee that one-third the number of members of the National Assembly shall be women, in so many other spheres women are under-represented. In this context, the WFC again applauds the appointments of Madam Justice Yonnette Cummings-Edwards and Madam Justice Alison Roxane George, to the positions of Chancellor of the Judiciary Acting and Chief Justice Acting, respectively
On a statement the WFC says "As we observe IWD 2017, under the theme, “Be Bold for Change” WFC calls attention specifically to Sustainable Development Goal No. 5: ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’ and urges actions to ensure women are afforded opportunities to rise to the highest levels in their chosen professions. Likewise, actions must be redoubled to prepare our girls to assume leadership positions across all strata of society.
WFC notes that some of the more troubling challenges remain the high incidence of teenage pregnancy, human trafficking and domestic violence.
Last year, it was noted by Madam First Lady, Sandra Granger, that Guyana has the highest level of teenage pregnancy in the Commonwealth Caribbean. Collectively, as a nation, we need to reverse this trend.
WFC notes also, that women and girls are more often the victims of Trafficking in Persons. It was reported that all 59 reported cases of human trafficking in Guyana in 2014 were females and of the 68 reported cases in 2015, there were 59 females. Not only did the number of victims increase in 2016 but again, the majority of victims were females. What is more worrying is that very often, another female is involved in committing the crime of human trafficking, either as the perpetrator or as an accomplice.
Probably our greatest challenge remains violence against the female, be it spousal abuse or abuse of the girl child. With increasing regularity, social media sites and traditional media forms highlight acts of aggression where females are the victims. These acts leave lasting marks, many visible, more not visible, but equally detrimental to the well-being of the female. All too often, these acts of aggression result in the disfigurement of the female or the loss of life.
WFC applauds the work being done by the Office of the First Lady, the Ministries of Education, Public Health, Social Protection, Public Security, Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, and Public Communications to get more girls involved in ICT, other ministries, agencies and departments of the Government and Non-Governmental Organisations, to improve the lives of females, to prevent teenage pregnancies, domestic abuse and to offer opportunities for the holistic development of our women and girls.
IWD 2017 must not be only a time for celebration of women but a time for action. If we each of us commit to one act that will advance the cause of women in our society, then our country would be a better place."
