PRESIDENT, Dr Irfaan Ali has said Guyana has emerged as a trailblazer in advancing women’s empowerment, pointing to statistics that show more than 70 per cent of the country’s university graduates are women.
Speaking during a recent interview with a group of journalists and students, he said women are increasingly taking up and creating opportunities across leadership, business, technology and sport, reflecting sustained investments by the government to expand access and opportunity.
“We are a trailblazer. When you have more than 70 per cent of our graduates from university being women, it tells you the story. Today, women in this country are taking and creating massive opportunities in leadership, in business, in technology, in sports,” he said adding:
“The investments that we have made and continue to make to empower women, most of the persons on the part-time programme, are women who never had the opportunity to earn who today are independent because of that programme, who today are more confident because of that programme, who today, because of that programme, are upgrading themselves.”
President Ali also pointed to policy outcomes that show women playing a growing role in national development.
“So, it is doing more of that, 35 per cent of all new farms, setting policies like that, being owned by women today. More women are taking housing loans than men, more women are being allocated house lots than men and I would say that women are being far more responsible than men in our society today, and that they are bearing far more of the burden of development, the burden of family, than men in our society today. And I will go as far as to say that our men are lagging behind, and we are disappointing the women of our country and we have to address this,” he said.
He called for a renewed focus on addressing this imbalance, urging men to adopt the drive, passion and enthusiasm demonstrated by women in Guyana.
The President said stronger, more confident men leading positive lives are essential to reigniting what he described as a missing flame in society.
“Women love confident men, strong men, who are living positive lives, and I think that we need to take a leaf out of the women’s book in Guyana and convert their drive, their passion, their enthusiasm in our own lives,” the President said.
