Inclusion of women in decision-making fundamental pillar of PPP/C Gov’t – PM Phillips

– IWD 2023 event hosted at OPM

Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips and his wife, Mrs Mignon Bowen-Phillips joined the female staff of the Office of the Prime Minister and the departments that fall under the Prime Minister’s purview for an appreciation ceremony in honour of International Women’s Day 2023, on Wednesday at the Office of the Prime Minister on Camp Street.

Prime Minister Phillips, in his remarks, emphasised the government’s commitment to women’s issues, gender equality, and the inclusion of women in decision-making processes for Guyana’s development, which he described as a fundamental pillar of the ruling administration.

“We believe in democracy, and any progressive democratic nation in the world believes in gender equality, believes in equal opportunity for all of its people, including women and girls.”

He added that the government believes that equal opportunity will lead to greater empowerment for Guyanese women, while noting the importance of education in its development plans.

Mrs Bowen-Phillips, who delivered the keynote address, referred to the importance of the International Women’s Day theme, “DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality,” and posited that it calls for more considerations to be made to foster a more inclusive approach for women and girls to access technology for growth and development.

To this end, she used the forum to highlight gender gaps in technology and online gender-based violence against women and girls. To address these inequalities, she called for a comprehensive approach by all stakeholders.

“We must develop a gender-responsive approach to address these issues and bring more women to access technology to enhance their potential for more gender equality. This approach must consider how women and girls can be more protected when manoeuvring the digital space.

“Every year on this day, we are encouraged to stand in solidarity with women in acknowledging these difficulties. I extend the challenge to all sections of society to move beyond the symbolic sense of the word towards more tangible ways of addressing gender inequalities, wherever they exist,” she pointed out.

She further called for the development of the right policies, the implementation of the right systems and structure, the creation of the right opportunities and enacting the right legislation.

Mrs Bowen-Phillips added that it is important for women’s efforts to be recognised so that younger girls and other women might charter a similar route to success and impact the world for the better.

Female employees were also treated to lunch and received tokens of appreciation.