IN celebration of the International Day of the Girl 2021, the High Commission of Canada, on Thursday, was led by Corissa McClure, who operated in the capacity as the ‘High Commissioner for the Day’.

According to a release, McClure was selected as the winner of the ‘High Commissioner for the Day contest where the High Commission invited girls from the ages of 15 to 20 years old to submit a one-minute-long video discussing the topic ‘What steps would you recommend Caribbean leaders take to increase gender equality?’ After reviewing the numerous video submissions, Corissa McClure emerged as the clear winner.

In her capacity as the High Commissioner, McClure had a day filled with meetings and other engagements as she used the platform to advocate for gender equality in Guyana and the Caribbean.

The release noted that McClure’s day began with a meeting at the CARICOM Secretariat where she met with Dr. Carla Barnett, the CARICOM Secretary-General; Dr. Douglas Slater, Assistant Secretary-General, Human and Social Development; Charmaine Atkinson-Jordan, Chef de Cabinet, Office of the Secretary-General; Ann-Marie Williams, Deputy Programme Manager, Gender and Development and Michele Small-Bartley, Deputy Programme Manager, Youth Development at CARICOM. High Commissioner Mark Berman and Caroline Mireault, Counsellor (Politics), at the Canadian High Commission were also present.

The team from CARICOM congratulated McClure on winning the High Commissioner for the Day contest and the excellent points she presented to promote gender equality. The team took the opportunity to speak about some of CARICOM’s projects under their youth programme and their up-coming plans under their gender and development portfolio.

During the meeting, CARICOM Secretary-General Barnett also highlighted that she is looking forward to the day when a woman being the Secretary-General of CARICOM or any other senior institution would no longer be a rare occurrence. She emphasised that women belong at the forums where decisions are being made and she encouraged McClure to continue to pursue her ambitions of one day becoming a diplomat, the release said.

Later in the day, McClure was also the guest of honour at a lunch hosted at the High Commissioner’s residence that included British High Commissioner, Jane Miller; US Ambassador, Sarah Ann Lynch; UN Resident Coordinator, Yesim Oruc; the CARICOM Secretary-General, Dr. Carla Barnett; Brazilian Ambassador, Maria Clara Duclos Carisio, and Deputy EU Representative, Evelina Melbarzde.

The women provided McClure with more insight on the life of career diplomat and had discussions with her on how she can continue to influence change in any male dominated field. They also spoke about the points she proposed to increase gender quality and the current issues affecting youth, of which McClure highlighted mental health as an important issue.

Later, McClure was given a tour of the Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute, which is an initiative of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security. The tour was facilitated by the Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry, Anjanie Ramlall, and Sanjay Pooran, Senior Training Officer at the institute, who provided information on the business incubator, the WIIN Programme and other initiatives.

According to the release, McClure had the opportunity to discuss her suggestions for how the ministry can increase gender equality and also hear the programmes that the ministry already had in place. During the tour she was given a background about the institute and the ongoing work to upgrade the facilities to better serve women, including the new computer lab and the construction of a modern kitchen, which the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives is providing with appliances.

McClure was also able to interact with Aliyah Hassan, who is a part of the Ministry’s Young Influencers Programme and she was invited to be a guest on the ministry’s youth show “Youth Unfiltered”.