MINISTER of Social Protection,Amna Ally;Minister of Public Health,Volda Lawrence and Ms. Hazel Halley-Burnette will represent Guyana at the United Nations (UN) ‘61st session of the

Commission on the Status of Women (CSW61)’ conference at the UN Headquarters in New York,March 13 – 24.

The Ministry of Social Protection on Tuesday confirmed to the Guyana Chronicle the attendance of the three women who have been at the helm of women empowerment to participate in conversations and decision-making on the issue of ‘Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work.’
‘The 61st session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW61)’ is one of the largest conferences of global leaders, Non-governmental Organisations, private sector actors, UN partners and activists around the globe which focuses on the status of rights and empowerment of all women and girls, everywhere, the United Nations said.

Chairman of the Commission on the Status of Women,H.E. Mr. Antonio de Aguiar Patriota (Brazil) said in a video message on the UN website that the conference’s purpose is to advance the full and effective implementation of the Beijing platform for action, which had established that no country has fully achieved gender equality and empowerment of women and girls.
He said too that the universal 2030 agenda for sustainable development has centralized gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls to achieve sustainable development while eradicating poverty and pushing progress.

During the conference the commission will take the opportunity to discuss the challenges and achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the empowerment of indigenous women in particular. The commission will also guide countries and other organizations on the economic empowerment of women in the changing world of work, with the outcomes of the major conference being recommended for the drafting of policy and highlighting key policy.

“This year’s session is taking place at a critical juncture, as the world of work is changing fast, spurred by innovation, globalization and increasing human mobility. At the same time, it is adversely impacted by climate change, humanitarian crises, rising informality of labour and economic inequality. For sustainable and healthy economies, the world of work must empower women and remove the persisting inequalities that hold women back from getting on equal footing with men,” The UN said on its website.

The organisation continues to push for inequality in compensation to “equal pay and women’s unpaid work to decent work,” to break down discriminatory barriers and invest in providing women access to digital and green economies.The UN recognises the fast changing world of work even as the world becomes more innovative, and increases in mobility and informality, but says such changes must empower women whose work have already gained major recognition and had been effective in creating global change.

In highlighting that while the UN and other organizations have long been pushing for more women power, women still occupy jobs that pay less and provide no benefits, the organization said even though some women shoulder the enormous—and economically essential—burden of unpaid care and domestic work, still they earn less.

“Realising women’s economic empowerment requires transformative change so that prosperity is equitably shared and no one is left behind…Every woman should enjoy her right to decent work. As a global champion for gender equality and women’s empowerment, UN Women asks: What do we need to get there?”