push women towards STEM careers, WGEC recommends in annual report

THE Women and Gender Equality Commission (WGEC) on Monday handed over its annual report for the period 2021-2022 to Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir.
The report contains 13 recommendations which will be reviewed after it is tabled at the next siting of the National Assembly.

During a simple handing over ceremony, Nadir said that the commission does important work and has contributed to the building of strong foundations.
He emphasised that given the amount of effort that went into establishing the commission, the recommendations it make must be taken seriously.
“The heavy lifting was done a while ago to get the commission in place. The heavy lifting was done so that we could start budgeting [and] we could have a commission that reaches decisions by consensus. Now we have to start seriously looking at the recommendations,” he said.

Meanwhile, WGEC Chairperson Indranie Chandarpal told members of the media that some of the recommendations addresses the Ministry of Education’s Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) programme.

She said it is the commission’s belief that the programme should be expanded so as to reach more learners.
“The last time we heard about the way this programme is operating, we were not certain that all the schools in Guyana are in receipt of that type of education, and we believe it needs to be expanded, especially in view of what is taking place,” she added.

In addition to this, the medical termination of pregnancy bill, the harmonisation of data collection, and availability of women’s health data were also included in the report.
Chandarpal said that the commission believes these inclusions will help provide policy guidance.
“We believe that it is something that you have to mainstream in everything that you do, that always there is a repository of data that is available for people who are policymakers as well as students who are doing research,” she added.

According to Chanderpal, rural communities is a topic that they touched on as well.
She said: “Rural communities are really deprived of a lot of facilities as compared to urban communities and I know that there has been an effort by the government and all governments to ensure that rural people do have access to the facilities and we have seen all the schools and the different grounds that are being made, but rural people do not feel that connection with what is happening.”

According to the chairman, more consideration should be given to these rural communities. She noted that they have lots of resources but lack the right leadership.
Chandarpal pointed out that these rural people have the land and are receiving resources, but the leadership in their communities is what is lacking.
Among the other recommendations are a more robust Gender Affairs Bureau that is involved in the implementation of gender mainstreaming protocols and encouraging more women to strive for careers in the STEM-related fields.

The commission strives for an environment where the rights of women are recognised as human rights and gender equality is upheld.