UNITED Nations Resident Representative to Guyana, Mr. Kaira Liman-Tinguiri, has lauded the outstanding contribution of Guyanese women to the political, social and economic life of the country through the years; and more recently, for contributing to Guyana’s high ranking at the ‘2010 Global Status of Women in Parliament’. At that forum, he said, Guyana ranked 25th of 186 countries, with 30% of its members of parliament being female. Mr. Liman-Tinguiri made these remarks on Monday evening, as he addressed a special forum at the Theatre Guild, Georgetown, in observance of the centenary anniversary of International Women’s Day (IWD) – 1911-2011. Titled ‘Phenomenal Woman’, the occasion was an evening of artistic performances, inter-generational conversation and cocktails hosted by the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, with the support of the United Nations in Guyana.
The theatrical piece, “Phenomenal Woman”, was written and directed by Dr. Paloma Mohamed, with a cast of local artistes choicely entertaining the audience with rich and inspiring segments of poetry, song and dance.
In his opening remarks, the UN Envoy credited the fact that the highest office in the land, President of the Co-operative Republic, was once occupied by a woman (Mrs. Janet Jagan), while acknowledging that several other women have risen to distinguished positions of ministers of government and other parliamentary positions, as well as senior and middle management levels in the public and private sectors in Guyana.
He observed that with 30 per cent of the country’s parliament being women, Guyana ranks above developed countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America; and in the Caribbean region, above Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Grenada. He mentioned too Guyana’s establishment last year of the Commission on Women and Gender Equality as another commendable achievement.
But while congratulating Guyanese women for their achievements, he admonished them, even as they celebrate, to guard against complacency. “As we celebrate, may we not become complacent, but continue to promote skills and decent work and strive to transform our societies, while laying the foundations for equitable and sustainable human development,” he charged.
The theme for  this year’s observances is “Equal access to education, training and science and technology: pathway to decent work for women”, which Mr. Liman -Tinguiri considered very relevant for developing countries, as they work to build bridges between education, training, science and technology and the labour market, in order to promote equal access to decent employment.
In congratulatory remarks on the occasion of the centenary celebration, he acknowledged the significant progress achieved by women, through ‘determined advocacy, practical action and enlightened policy- making, adding that 2011 IWD is an opportunity to celebrate achievements and to mobilise against the challenges that remain.
Tracing the history of the development of women over the last 100 years, the UN official recalled that initially gender equality and women’s empowerment were largely radical ideas. But today, even as the gender gap in education is closing, he observed that there are still wide differences within and across countries and geographical areas. For example, women and girls continue to endure unacceptable discrimination and violence, often at the hand of intimate partners or relatives. “In the home and at school, in the workplace and in the community, being female too often means being vulnerable” he lamented.
He  referred  to UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon’s campaign “Unite to end violence against women”, along with its network of men leaders, working to end impunity and change mindsets.
The launch this year of the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women, he said, demonstrates that body’s intent to deepen  the agenda.  “Only through women’s full and equal participation in all areas of public and private life can we hope to achieve the sustainable, peaceful and just society promised in the United Nations Charter,” Mr. Liman-Tinguiri declared.
Meanwhile, Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Mrs. Priya Manickchand, expressed gratitude to women who blazed the trail in pursuit of social, political and economic advances for women, noting that had they not done what they had set out  to do, the women of today would have had little to celebrate.
Acknowledging some of the stalwart women who have done and others who continue to do Guyana proud in placing Guyanese women in distinguished positions, she mentioned Mrs. Janet Jagan, our first female President of the Cooperative Republic with a long and celebrated history of struggling for the advancement of women economically and politically;  Mrs. Winifred Gaskin – a former Education Minister, who also answered the call for women’s political and economic freedoms and to advance the idea that women are equal partners; Justice Desiree Bernard – the first ever woman in the Caribbean to be Chief Justice and Chancellor, and now the only woman on the Judiciary of the Caribbean Court of Justice; Ms. Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett – Guyana’s first and probably the world’s youngest female Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Expressing excitement that Guyana is ‘really going places’, Guyana is really an exciting place to be right now, and that she still has a lot of hope for the direction which the nation is going, Minister Manickchand concurred with the UN Representative that our Guyanese women should not enter into  complacency mode.
“I think we are in a good place. We have set some grand examples. We continue now to have much to celebrate, but I want to leave the charge that we shouldn’t be complacent about our gains, because we could well be hearing from our children 100 years from now. We want to hear them talk about what we did while we were here occupying this space,” the minister concluded.
Among those attending the celebration were  UNAIDS Country Director, Dr. Ruben Del Prado and other members of UNAIDS family; the members of the diplomatic corps; female ministers of government; representatives of non-governmental organizations; and Head of the Domestic Violence Policy Unit of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security,– Abbas Mancey.