THE Women and Gender Equality Commission, established one year ago, will be presenting its first report to the National Assembly shortly, with recommendations surrounding legislation on sexual harassment and maternal benefit grants. Chairperson of the Commission, Mrs. Indra Chandarpal updated the media on the highlights since its establishment. She was accompanied by a number of other commissioners at the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC), Peter Rose Street, Queenstown, Georgetown building.
Chandarpal said the Commission intends to put, to Parliament, a proposal with respect to sexual harassment, especially at the workplace and also pledged to urge consideration of increasing the amount granted under the maternity benefit grants.
She said their main objective is to promote national recognition and acceptance of women’s rights and another aim is to advocate for gender equality.
Chandarpal said the first six months of the Commission’s life was spent on building relationships among the commissioners and developing the institution.
She said the institutional strengthening included having a number of bilateral meetings to garner any support that was available and, among those with whom meetings were held, are United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
According to Chandarpal, they sought to collaborate as the Commission looked for expertise in the various organisations and, so far, they have benefited from the Human Services and the Education Ministries sharing their programmes. 
She said the Commission sent questionnaires to all the political parties, asking them to study the questions and speak on some of the issues raised.
Coming out of that initiative, Chandarpal said the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) indicated they have women sections within their parties. However, the Alliance for Change (AFC) and the Guyana Action Party (GAP) said, while they have no such groups, they are, nevertheless, committed to gender equality.

Responded
She commended all the political parties for their responses, noting that none was hostile and responded to the extent possible. 
The former Government Minister said the Commission will be watching and studying all the manifestos of the political parties to see if they are keeping their promises.
There are presently a total of 18 commissioners and the Commission can be reached at www.womenandgenderequalitycommission.gy/. The webpage features information about the commissioners, registration for the upcoming events, the calendar of events, a discussion forum, an honour page, videos and a gallery of all events.
The Commission will publish a booklet in August featuring 50 Afro-Guyanese women who have contributed to the development of Guyana. This would be done in observance of the International Year for People of African Descent. 
The Commission, which has conducted 13 statutory meetings to date, also plans to hold a candlelight vigil in September for those countries that engage in war. Furthermore, future plans include hosting an annual conference to meet stakeholders and invite international persons to speak on issues related to women.
The commissioners represent various interest groups in the country, including the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the Women’s Affairs Bureau (WAB), the Women’s Progressive Organisation (WPO), cultural and ethnic groups and the Private Sector Commission.