Women leaders prepared for LGE
Participants at the GWLI capacity-building workshop stand with representatives from the Ministry of Social Protection and other stakeholders
Participants at the GWLI capacity-building workshop stand with representatives from the Ministry of Social Protection and other stakeholders

FEMALE community leaders across Region Four recently participated in a special capacity-building workshop to enhance their leadership skills and to prepare them for participation in the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE) later this year.
Some participants are already serving members of both Regional and Neighborhood Democratic Councils.

The training was organised by the Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute, an institution under the purview of the Ministry of Social Protection. It is the first in a series of similar workshops to be held across the country.
Regional Chairman Genevieve Allen; Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Social Protection, Adrian Ramrattan; Administrator of the Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute (GWLI), Tricia Watson; and members of the Board of Directors of GWLI were all present at the opening of the workshop.

The workshop is part of the ministry’s commitment not only to the development of women, but to the achievement of gender parity and the inclusion of women in decisions that affect their communities, families and lives, a statement said Sunday.
Ramrattan said gender parity is among the top priorities for the Ministry of Social Protection and as such, his ministry will continue to empower women. He noted the importance of the Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute in the achievement of gender parity and the responsibility of women to take up leadership roles.

Ministry of Social Protection, Deputy Permanent Secretary Adrian Ramrattan

Ramrattan said while progressively, women have been successful in overcoming the barriers to participate in the development and decision-making process at both the national and international levels of society, traditional values continue to play a fundamental role in their employment in rural and urban areas.

He reminded that in most cases, it is still the women who continue to bear the bulk of domestic and child-nurturing responsibilities, which overall limit their participation in waged work and other civic responsibilities.

Administrator of the Institute, Tricia Watson, said it is vital that such workshops be held to break barriers and continue to improve the individual aspects and institutional competencies of women in their communities.
Region Four Chairman Genevieve Allen told the participants that it is imperative that they work together to support each other.

Regional Chairman Region Four, Genevieve Allen

She said oftentimes when complaints about community infrastructure are made to the regional office, those complaints come from women.
The regional chairman called for women to get more involved in the management of their communities at the level of local government to have greater control of activities affecting them and their communities.
She implored all participants to take the challenge of contesting in their constituencies in the upcoming LGE.

Meanwhile, Vincent Alexander, a Commissioner of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), explained to the participants that local government is about putting an authority in place in a local area to deal with public affairs and the matters of development for that space.

He said it involves both physical development and creating an environment that fosters economic development as well.
Similarly, Valarie Martin, a resident of Farm, East Bank of Demerara, who operates a small business in her community and is involved in several community development projects, said she is looking forward to participating as a candidate in the upcoming LGE.
Martin, like the other participants, has expressed gratitude to the organisers. She said she has learnt a great deal which would help to assist her in the development of her community.

Administrator of the Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute (GWLI), Tricia Watson

The participants were enthusiastic about the training and all brought varying concerns and interests to the discussion, the statement said.
The Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute is aimed at creating and implementing gender focused education and training programmes for women and men in the government, non-government, public, and private sectors in order to promote gender awareness and equity and enable the full participation of women in leadership and decision-making processes throughout the society, thereby contributing to the equitable and sustainable development of Guyana.

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