Region Five women preparing to assume leadership roles

DPI, Guyana, Thursday, April 12, 2018

Women leaders from Region Five, Mahaica-Berbice are engaged in a special capacity-building workshop to enhance their leadership skills and prepare them for participation in the upcoming Local Government Election (LGE) later this year.

Organised by the Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute (GWLI), which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Social Protection; the goal of the exercise is to enable the women to support local authorities in designing and implementing gender-responsive policies aimed at improving access, availability, and quality of public services for women and girls.

Addressing the opening of the workshop at the Region Five Regional Democratic Council boardroom, Minister of Social Protection, Amna Ally explained that

“We have chosen the new path of capacity building because we recognise that gender equality and local governance is inextricably interlinked; they are essential for local democratic development and democratisation,” Minister Ally said.

The Minister said that mainstreaming women through their active involvement in the formulation and implementation of policies, has been acknowledged as a pre-condition for achieving equitable development for the society, in any developing country.

“There can be no true democracy and people’s participation in governance and development without equal participation of women and men,” Minister Ally said. She further added “after being exposed to the content of these workshops, you women will gain the skill set required to take up critical positions in local government or to actively influence policy decisions taken at the local level in communities. And that is why I urge you to commit yourselves to becoming more actively involved in the development of your communities and I encourage you to rise to the occasion to represent your community and participate in Local Government elections.”

Regional Member of Parliament, Jennifer Wade said that it is imperative that the women grasp all the information they can and use the materials to make a difference in their communities. ‘Gone are the days when you are being placed in homes to do housework, you are here this morning to be empowered and when you would have finished oi know you will return to your communities and make a difference”

The training exercise is the second of a series of similar workshops to be held in several regions across the country.

The Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute has a mandate to create and implement gender-focused education and training programmes for women and men in the government, non-government, public, and private sectors in order to promote gender awareness and equity and enable the full participation of women in leadership and decision-making processes throughout society, thereby contributing to the equitable and sustainable development of Guyana.
By: Synieka Thorne