CHAIRMAN of Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam) Mr Alli Baksh said, on Tuesday last, that he is very thankful to women for playing a great role in the development of the region, the country and the world.
Speaking on a special occasion to mark International Women’s Day (IWD), in the region’s boardroom at Anna Regina on the Essequibo Coast, he said women are dominating in every area and have climbed to the top of the political ladder with many becoming presidents and prime ministers.
Addressing scores of women drawn from the regional administration, Department of Education and Women’s Progressive Organisation (WPO), Baksh wished them well on their special day and encouraged others countrywide to continue working towards making Guyana a modern society.
Former chairperson of the WPO in Region Two,  Mrs. Sabra Basir, who spoke on the significance of IWD, said, during the period of social development, many forms of organisation were developed and, while some were established to advance the social, political and economic growth of the existing civilisation, others were not only repressive but intent on maintaining the old and primitive order.
She said many progressive-minded people were concerned about the role of the individual in society and one such person was Clara Zetkin of Germany, who felt women, as a social force, should be organised and afforded equal opportunity in all aspects of social development.
Basir said, to sensitise the world, Zetkin advocated and won the decision to designate March 8 as IWD and an International Women’s Congress, convened in 1907, set the spark that led to the struggle for women’s rights worldwide.
Basir also specially mentioned late Mrs. Janet Jagan and Mrs. Viola Burnham, from Guyana and Angela Davis of the United State (U.S.) as some of the outstanding progressive women.
Basir listed others as Isabella Martinez of Argentina; Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka; Corazon Aquino of The Philippines; Lakshmi Pandit of Indi; Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan; Eugenia Charles of Dominica; and Margaret Thatcher of Britain.