Education, economics vital pillars for equality- First Lady tells Caribbean Forum

First Lady Mrs Arya Ali says access to education and economic assets are vital in achieving gender equality for women.

The First Lady on Wednesday joined several representatives at the Caribbean Gender Empowerment Forum held at the Guyana Marriott Hotel, Georgetown and hosted by the Atlantic Council and UN Women Caribbean in partnership with the European Union/ United Nations Spotlight Initiative.

In her speech, she noted that worrisome reports of gender-based violence are sobering reminders of how women are underprivileged.  She further highlighted her Menstrual Hygiene Initiative which is a direct response to one of the many basic necessities that women and girls have limited access to that causes them to lose out on education.

“Education is a fundamental right, yet there are a number of factors which deny our girls the right to education…when we transform education and economics of our societies, we transform the trajectory of gender equality,” the First Lady said.

She said 84 per cent of 4,500 girls living in hinterland communities missed school between four to eight days per year because they don’t have sanitary pads. This caused 17 per cent of the girls to miss tests and final exams which dropped their academic performance.

The UN Women via researched data found that women and girls will not achieve full equality for another 300 years. If women and girls do not have access to opportunities that men can easily get, then these statistics may never change or worsen.

In this regard, Mrs Ali said the nation must develop interventions to ensure that women and girls are not left out as the country undergoes unprecedented growth and rapid transformation.

“It is important for us to bring the world’s largest excluded group into the fold and for us to do so now.

“Important in all of this too is ensuring our men and by extension society, dismantle those patriarchal structures and values which have long inhibited the growth and mobility of women,” Mrs Ali said.

She noted that the struggle for equal pay, equal treatment in the workplace, representation in leadership, and equal access to training and career-building opportunities has been a long and hard achievement but Guyana is making progress.

The First Lady has made interventions in this regard by working with the government to provide scholarship programmes that assist women who are victims of domestic violence to pursue studies at the Carnegie School of Home Economics.

Additionally, in partnership with a local maritime school, her office is offering technical safety in oil and gas training to 100 women in hinterland communities.