–WPO urges Guyanese women

See full statement below:
The Women’s Progressive Organisation extends warm and fraternal greetings to all Guyanese, especially women and girls on the occasion of the 113th anniversary of International Women’s Day. We join with women of the whole world, on this occasion, to evaluate the progress made for women.

The UN theme, “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality” captures the very essence of the critical transformation that is taking place in the world today; especially in the developed countries where we are witnessing the most advanced technological revolution.

Technology has revolutionised many aspects of our daily lives and has become an integral part of our work.

There is that section of the population who are 60 years and older, who never thought that digital technology would transform their lives, whether it is in communication, education, health, culture, business, commerce, food security, et al. Almost every dimension of life is driven by modern solutions for traditional problems which has made it easier for mankind to harness progress.

Technology requires brainpower and persons who are desirous of improving their knowledge can do so once they have the tools at their disposal. First world countries have the expertise to advance research in various areas because their citizens have the means to educate themselves while their governments have the financial capabilities to create the framework for research and innovation.

Third world countries, on the other hand, cannot finance research to develop technology, and while they benefit from all the available technology, it is at very high cost. Hiring technical personnel to operate the available technology also comes at exorbitant costs.

Gender equality in this sector will require changes in some of the fundamental principles which are necessary for upward mobility.

This will depend on those requirements that are needed for both men and women. Once the family structure remains the same with the woman sharing most of the burden in managing the home and family, it will put her in a position where she has to work and study harder to compete in higher positions.

In Guyana, when the government started the One Laptop Per Family initiative, little did we know of the impact it would have on our lives. All the different ‘apps’ have made it easier to access information both negative and positive, which brought people closer together digitally.

It has transformed lives in every conceivable way. Gadgets of all dimensions are available to make our lives easier and people are able to pay their bills, access money and services at the click of their fingers.

We support the call for women to be much bolder in taking advantage of the opportunities that are available in the area of technology and innovation.

The school curriculum must be cognisant of this reality where the STEM subjects must be accessible to all students, since it is a precursor to their involvement and advancement in this area of study. Innovations in technology will make lives of people much easier because it will remove the manual labour which can be a disadvantage to many.

We support the initiatives of government as it moves to create an enabling environment to take our country through technological innovation.

Simultaneously, we call on the youth of our country to take advantage of the opportunities that are available, so that together we can take our country to another level.

Let us make our country a place where all can benefit from the development which is taking place so that we can proudly build our ‘One Guyana’ as “One People, One Nation with a common Destiny.