Caribbean women leaders seek higher representation in parliament

Women leaders from across the Caribbean have recommended that the region’s governments should increase women’s representation in cabinet, parliament and local government to a minimum of 30 per cent, to raise the number of women in political leadership acting as change agents.

The recommendation formed part of a consensus from the first ever ‘Caribbean Regional Colloquium on Women Leaders as Agents of Change’, hosted by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, the Commonwealth Secretariat, UN Women, the Organization of American States, and the Caribbean Institute for Women in Leadership (CIWiL), from 29 to 30 June 2011 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

The colloquium brought together over 100 women leaders from the Americas, the Commonwealth and the Caribbean, to further promote awareness of the challenges facing women today. The leaders also met to agree on priority goals and strategies for advancing women’s empowerment and gender equality in the political, public and private sectors in the Caribbean, and strengthening the regional network of women in politics.

Addressing participants, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister and Commonwealth Chair-in-Office Kamla Persad-Bissessar, said: “That call to leadership must be nurtured in women of all social strata, representing the full diversity of women reflecting ethnic groups, age, socio-economic status, abilities, and rural/urban location – if we want to achieve that critical mass of women to enable meaningful change.”

A number of strategies and recommendations were proposed to transform systemic, cultural and political structures that hinder the full and effective participation of Caribbean women in leadership roles in the colloquium’s ‘Port of Spain Consensus on Transformational Leadership for Gender Equality’.

These included: political parties should set targets of at least 40 per cent of either sex on the lists of candidates for parliamentary and local government elections and senatorial appointments; and CIWiL, in collaboration with governments, political parties, women’s and civil society organisations and the media, should advocate at all levels to enable women to influence political, economic and social systems and processes, and seek accountability from elected representatives on their commitment to gender equality.

It is hoped that the outcomes of the colloquium will be presented to a planned High-Level Women Leaders Colloquium in the margins of the UN General Assembly, by the Prime Minister, in New York in September 2011.

Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Ransford Smith, who participated in the Caribbean colloquium panel discussion on women as agents of change, said: “The reality is that progress thus far, including in the Caribbean, insufficiently reflects the fact that women comprise half of humanity and half of the Commonwealth’s population of 2 billion. Thus the participation and representational levels attained so far fall woefully short of ensuring the potential social, political and economic contribution that women, empowered, are capable of making.

“Against this background, the Secretariat will, in the Caribbean and in the Commonwealth as a whole, continue to support the role of women and women leaders as agents of change.”

US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said, via a video message to colloquium participants: “Throughout the Caribbean, we must ensure women are able to realize their potential. They must be allowed to contribute in every capacity – as political leaders, entrepreneurs, social activists, and more. When women prosper, it doesn’t just benefit them, it lifts up their families, their communities and their countries.”

The Director in charge of Gender at the Secretariat, Dr Sylvia Anie, chaired and facilitated lead discussions at the colloquium on the Pan-Commonwealth Leadership Training Curriculum developed for women in leadership positions.

She said: “The potential and strength of Caribbean women as agents of change is highly visible and commendable. In this respect, the region serves as a good practice for the entire Commonwealth.”

Prior to the colloquium, Dr Anie and Gender Adviser at the Secretariat, Kemi Ogunsanya, met with the Trinidad and Tobago Minster of Foreign Affairs, Dr Surujrattan Rambachan, to discuss the High-level Women Leaders Colloquium, the Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender Equality 2005-2015, and to plan for a Women’s Dialogue organised by the Australian Government, Trinidad and Tobago Government and the Secretariat, in the wings of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to be held in Perth, Australia, in October 2011.

Dr Anie and Ms Ogunsanya also held talks with the minister for the new Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development, Senator Verna St.Rose Greaves, to share the good practices implemented by other Commonwealth countries in gender mainstreaming and women’s empowerment.