Govt values the efforts of women…and is toiling to make life better for them, says President Jagdeo
President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday declared open Feminition Exposition at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence, and urged both women and men not only to recognise the gains that women in Guyana have made, but also to undertake to seriously address shortcomings that inhibit women from fully contributing to national development. Delivering the feature address at what is being billed as the first ever women’s exposition, the president said government has valued the efforts of women and is toiling to make life better for them.
“Women are not naturally risk averse,” he said. “They take the greatest risk in life when they give birth to children,” he said, to a loud round of applause from an appreciative crowd. “So, if more women have opportunities to access financing, then they would also develop the risk-taking type of behaviour; but I think, in more measured ways than men, that would lead to wealth creation and prosperity in our society,” the president said.
“I think that societies that value womanhood are societies that are rich, and we in Guyana value womanhood,” he said.
To those who questioned the wisdom behind the concept of Feminition, he said this exposition has a specific purpose; and that has not only to do with recognising the progress that women have made in Guyana, “but also to help to create a mindset that we need a quantum leap forward in how we approach women’s issues.”
He said that there must be a shift in mindset that says education is an obligation of the government to its citizens, to one that says education could become a viable export industry for the Caribbean in a world that produces and richly rewards knowledge.
“But it means that governments must make that shift in its heads and in their planning policy. If they do that, then they will give the same kinds of concessions that they give to tourism and agriculture to the export industry of education. This exposition could serve that purpose,” he said.
He said Guyana has made advances here. “Our girls are doing better in the education system than boys. More and more women are rising to positions of power. More and more of them are earning equal pay with men. There is a stronger focus on women’s rights, reproductive rights. In this country, women have that. In other countries, they do not have it. There is no institutionalised discrimination against women. There are many laws that have been passed, many programmes put in place to better the lot of women,” the president said.
“We have come a far way. But how do we make the next leap? How do we shift the mindset? Can we do it with this exposition here? Or would it be just another exposition where people see the talents of women, they recognise the role of women in very important national tasks…[such as] in freeing our country from colonisation and in bringing back freedom and democracy in our countr, and the role women played and continue to play in developmental issues,” the President said.
“We have to first of all recognise that there are issues that are women’s issues, but women’s issues are not confined just to getting higher pay or greater rights. Women, because they are such an important part of our society, have to be concerned and have to play a very important role in all of society,” he said.
The president stressed that while some issues may be defined as men’s issues or other issues, they negatively affect women in some way. One of these he said, is housing, while another is the provision of water. “You know the hardships if you do not have a home, it places a disproportionate burden on the women. Secondly, water may seem not a woman’s issue, but the people spending most of their time in the home, they have to spend disproportionate amounts of time securing water supplies for the family,” he said.
“If we want a better society, the mother, have to be concerned with what is happening to our sons, why we are losing many of them to drug dealers and criminals, and why many of them are dropping out of school [at young age] and why they are not performing as well as the girls. Women have to be concerned about that just as men should be concerned about women’s issues too,” he said.
“This is not about competition between women and men. It is about respecting each other, respecting motherhood and the special role that women play in our society,” he said.
“Our prosperity will be determined by how many women we bring into the labour force and how many more are educated in Guyana,” he said. “We need more unconditional love. Men [are not like that],” he said. “We will continue to expand opportunities for women by creating programmes that are dedicated to unleash their latent entrepreneurial talent, and I believe it is latent, but just as important, as vibrant and viable as entrepreneurial talent in men,” he said.
“We have to ensure that there are no glass ceilings to women entrepreneurs, that they are seen as agents for import substitution type of activities, go wherever they want and own the biggest companies in the society,” he said. At this point, he lashed out at the leadership of the private sector in Guyana and said that these bodies would do well to emulate the standards set in terms of women’s representation in all branches of government.
Near the end of his presentation, the president called on women to take an active role in fighting alcoholism and tobacco use and other substances. “Often they are the victims of the use of these substances,” he said.
Speaking before the president, Minister of Human Services and Social Security Priya Manickchand said, “We see an increasing number of women assuming leadership roles in both the private and public sector. We see more women speaking out on domestic violence and exiting violent relationships.” She said the State has a duty to establish a society where equality could prevail and the benefits thereof enjoyed by all. She said that the Government of Guyana is committed to doing this.
The minister outlined many of the initiatives that her Government has taken to make the lives of women freer in Guyana.
Touching on the $500M Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry-backed Women of Worth (WOW) programme, the Minister said close to 1,000 women have already received loans amounting to about $167M under the scheme in less than one year of operation, and she is hoping that about 5,000 more women benefit from it.
At the end of the formal opening ceremony and cultural presentation, the president took time to interact with many persons in attendance and visited the various avenues. The exposition continues today and ends tomorrow.
PULL QUOTE
“I think that societies that value womanhood are societies that are rich, and we in Guyana value womanhood.”
This is not about competition between women and men. It is about respecting each other, respecting motherhood and the special role that women play in our society.”
Source: https://guyanachronicle.com/2011/05/28/as-feminition-gets-under-way