MOTP Feature

It is the First Lady of Guyana, Mrs. Sandra Granger, who said that a woman’s “greatest barrier is that they do not recognise their own value and use it to demand equal access.” Earlier this month, International Women’s Day was observed under the theme “Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030” and under the hashtag #BeboldforChange”, this statement could not be more timely or significant.

Though great strides have been made with regard to women’s rights and inequality, in many societies the ability to earn equal pay and opportunity in the workplace continues to be a problem. Climbing the corporate and political ladder has been more difficult for women than it has for men as, they have traditionally ran the household, reared the children, with those who leave the home to work, becoming secretaries, nurses or teachers.

Since taking Office, President David Granger has made significant strides in recognising the contributions of women in Guyana, while also focusing on the challenges affecting Guyanese women. During his address at the at the opening ceremony of a Roundtable Discussion in honour of International Women’s Day on March 8, the President said, however that while these achievements are all noteworthy, the country must now move to dismantle the structural impediments to gender equality in order to fulfil its commitment under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

One of the 17 SDGs focuses on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls and President Granger pledged Government’s commitment to following through on this goal. “Gender parity cannot be achieved in the absence of a more equal society. Enforcement of legislation to protect women, to prevent abuse and to promote greater equality must be more robust. The disparities between hinterland and coastland and between rural and urban communities, for example, must be reduced,” he said.

For the Head of State, this is not just a talking point. While over the years strides have been made in affording women the same rights as their male counterparts, with Guyana even boasting a female executive President in the name of the late Mrs. Janet Jagan, President Granger has upped the ante, actively appointing women in leadership positions and honouring them for their outstanding service to country.

The President and his administration has been taking steps to ensure that women’s contributions are recognised and appreciated even while striving to ensure that a better environment is created for the women and girls of the country to thrive. President Granger in 2015, began to lead the change with the appointment of 10 female Ministers within his Cabinet. This number accounts for approximately 37 percent of the Ministerial appointments. With a few changes over the past two years to his Cabinet, Ministries such as Social Protection, Public Health and Public Telecommunications are now being led by women.

On March 1, 2017, President Granger announced that Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, who has been acting as Chief Justice will assume the responsibility of Acting Chancellor and Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire will replace her as the new Acting Chief Justice. It was a proud moment for every Guyanese woman that two stalwarts of the law have been recognised through promotion for their service; a tangible demonstration that this administration was indeed serious about its message and drive for equality.

In December 2016, President David Granger had sworn in Justice Yonette Cummings- Edwards as the acting Chief Justice of Guyana. This would represent only the second time in Guyana’s 50- year old history as an independent nation that a woman was sworn in to serve in such a position; the first being Honorable Madame Justice Desiree Bernard. In accepting that position, Justice Cummings-Edwards had said that she is elated, honoured and humbled to be appointed to one of the highest judicial offices in the country.

And when the time came for the President to end the 20 year absence of senior counsel appointments, Guyanese broke the New Year to the news that of the nine who would receive their ‘silk’, three were women. This would represent in Guyana that a female, let alone three, had been conferred with this title. The first three women to have ever been elevated to this status are Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire, Ms. Rosalie Robertson and Justice Claudette Singh.

On that occasion, the President said “I personally find it unacceptable that in 50 years of independence we could not find a single female attorney to bestow silk… I have no qualms about the awards.”

Through the re-introduction of National Awards upon taking office, President Granger recognised numerous women for their life’s work towards the development of Guyana and the selfless work and sacrifices they have made for the betterment of their fellow citizens. In the two years that he has been in office, President Granger has conferred 51 Guyanese women with national awards. In 2015, 19 women from a total of 53 received national awards while in October 2016, a total of 32 women received awards, with four receiving the Cacique Crown of Honour (CCH), 14 the Arrow of Achievement (AA), 12 the Medal of Service (MS) and two received the Discipline Services Medal (DSM).

Of the women who were conferred with awards, leading the list is Chief Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, who was conferred with the CCH award for her long and outstanding service in administration of the law. Dr. Enid Denbow, also bestowed with a CCH for her long, dedicated and outstanding service in the field of medicine, is the first and only female Chief Medical Officer within the Health Ministry for several years. Ambassador Audrey Waddell, who currently serves as Director-General in the Ministry of Foreign Affa

irs, is also a CCH awardee, which she received in recognition of long service with exceptional dedication in the Guyana Foreign Service.

Ms. Jaitun Haniff-Persaud, who is the longest-serving confidential secretary to the Speaker of the House, received the Medal of Service Award in 2015. In addition, Jean La Rose of the Amerindian People’s Association was conferred with the Golden Arrow of Achievement by the Head of State. Ms. La Rose, who is an indigenous Arawak, is recognised as a fierce advocate for the rights of indigenous peoples, particularly as they relate to land rights issues.

Much more has to be done to ensure that more women take up positions of leadership in the governing of the country in all sectors but President Granger has created some momentum in this regard.

In October 2016, Ms. Ndibi Schwiers-Ceres, an experienced environmentalist was seconded from the Ministry of Natural Resources to head the Department of Environment, which was established by President Granger, to lead Guyana on a ‘green’ growth trajectory. Following this, the Government’s reassignment of Permanent Secretaries across the various Ministries and staff to Commissions, has seen 10 out of the 16 appointments, being women. While some are persons who have already been in the system, others were elevated to serve in this capacity.

Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Ms. Valerie Garrido-Lowe, said that as Guyana celebrates International Women’s Day, it is doing so with renewed hope, given the recent appointments of women and the push by President Granger to create a work equal society. Women folk, she said, can now look forward to a brighter future.

“The truth is that to be a woman, you still have to fight harder than a man to do the same work but in a broader point of view, I can say that with a President like David Granger,women have a real chance of a level playing field because he is a leader who takes the initiative for everyone else to follow. With the President trying to recognise women and give them equal status, it is a good thing for us and a reason to look to the future,” she said.

Going hand in hand with these recent developments and actions by the administration, First lady, Mrs. Sandra Granger also remains a beacon of empowerment for women and girls through various activities that she continues to champion through the auspices of her office.

The First Lady, who also attended the roundtable discussion, said that with behavioural change, determination and serious concerted action, there can be improvements in society in order for gender parity to be achieved. She said she added that women need to recognise and address the social and economic factors limiting easy access to education for the development of women and girls in Guyana.

The following day, the First Lady joined the Luminous Women’s Group, today, as they began the first leg of their school’s outreach programme, named after the International Women’s Day theme, #BeBoldForChangeGuyana at the St. Joseph High School, in Woolford Avenue.

In an interview with the Ministry of the Presidency, the First Lady expounded on why it is important to empower women. “The importance of empowering women is that globally, we are the half of the world. In Guyana, we are 50.2 percent at the last census so we are half of the population of Guyana. If you ignore that sizable percentage of your population, you are ignoring a sizable percentage of your talents and your resources. I think women have to become confident in themselves. I think a major block to women going forward is that they are afraid to take risks sometimes so what we have to do is to make our girl children believe not only in themselves but believe that they can achieve whatever they want to achieve in whichever field they want to embark on,” she said.

Upon his assumption to office in May 2015, President Granger, made it clear that his administration will promote an equal society, one where women, children, men, the rich, the poor and the middle class, will all be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities. At the 2016 International Women’s Day forum, held at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre, President Granger pledged his Government’s commitment to ensuring that women’s rights are secured. He vowed to take action to ensure that Guyanese women are further empowered and asserted then that women’s issues and gender parity are among his administration’s priority agenda items.

“We must address the structural causes of gender inequality. We must honour our commitment to these conventions… Guyana reasserts its total commitment to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These include Goal Number Five, which intends to: “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls,” the President said.