THE Women and Gender Equality Commission (WGEC) will this year be working in communities across the country to build an outreach course module that will later form part of the programme at the University of Guyana’s new Gender Studies Institute.
Chairperson of the Women and Gender Equality Commission, Indra Chandarpal, said the activity commences next week with the assistance of a York University professor. The module will be delivered through roundtable sessions and seminars at the regional level in the three counties of Guyana.
Executives of the National Toshao Council, as well as women toshaos will benefit from the initiative as well as women in parliament through special seminars. Chandarpal said a key focus of the initiative will be women candidates contesting Guyana’s upcoming local government elections.
That first phase will seek the involvement of grassroots leaders, regional and municipal bodies, civil society, gender specialists and activists, as well as youth bodies. The WGEC chairperson added that a second phase “is anticipated with current and additional partners to build capacities for sustained actions for gender equality and women in decision-making to build a more gender equal and gender-just society”.
This initiative is supported by the Canadian Government, through the Canada Fund of Local Initiatives (CFLI). Canadian High Commissioner Pierre Giroux presented a cheque for CDN$20,000 yesterday at the Human Rights Secretariat in Queenstown, Georgetown, where the WGEC is also housed.
The High Commissioner noted that the contribution to the constitutional body comes as Guyana and Canada celebrate 50 years of diplomatic engagement. On the role of the Canadian Government, he said women’s rights and gender equality are a high priority for his government within and outside of Canada.
The Canadian diplomat said his government is committed to working with the Guyana Government and civil society to “remove barriers to gender equality, address violence against women, and advance women’s rights”.
He said there is still work to be done, but “under this project, [the] Commission and Institute for Gender Studies will develop and test a short course in gender and development for policy makers, including parliamentarians, [as well as] regional and local government members”.
Meanwhile, Chairperson Chandarpal said the fund is intended to increase gender equality and women’s leadership in decision-making through community outreach, workshop seminars, and development of a community outreach university course that will serve as an introduction to gender and development, which is necessary for sustainable development.
Continuing from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted at the United Nations in 2000, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was adopted in 2015. The fight for gender equality remains a prominent feature in those global goals.
Outside of the work done by the commission, the Guyana Government is still in the process of putting a Gender Policy into action. That instrument is still in its consultation phase and will form the framework for advancing Guyana’s fight for gender equality in keeping with the global goals for 2030.
At the Social Protection Ministry, there will be a Gender Affairs Bureau established as a linking of the Women’s Affairs Bureau and the Men’s Affairs Bureau. This move was announced by subject Minister Volda Lawrence at her ministry’s end-of-year press conference last year.
The minister had said that this reflects a commitment of her government in their vision for the country in keeping with global trends. That unit is expected to come on stream sometime this year.

By Derwayne Wills