Basseterre, St. Kitts, March 09, 2016 (SKNIS): Minister of Gender Affairs, Honourable Wendy Phipps, opened the batting on the celebration of International Women’s Day in St. Kitts and Nevis with an address that strongly echoed the desire of women worldwide for gender equality.
The minister first took the opportunity to applaud all women for their achievements, collective legacies in nation-building, undaunted determination, and zeal in advocating for the advancement of every woman and girl in St. Kitts and Nevis and worldwide.
International Women’s Day 2016 is being celebrated locally under the theme ‘Pledge for Parity’, “which falls within the wider directive of United Nations (UN) Women dubbed: ‘Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up For Gender Equality’.” The minister explained that “this year’s theme was deliberately chosen because of the extremely slow pace at which the global gender gap appears to be closing. She noted that an assessment by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2014 projected that gender parity would be attained by 2095. However, the organization now estimates that full closure of the gender gap is not expected before the year 2133.
“What this means is, that at the current rate, gender equity is 117 years away,” she explained. “This is certainly not good enough – and all of us currently living will certainly not be around to see that momentous, albeit seriously overdue achievement in feminine human development. “Pledge for Parity” is therefore meant to be a clarion call for (a) gender-balanced leadership; (b) women and girls being enabled to achieve their full potential; and (c) inclusiveness in the workplace in order to eliminate gender bias, among other matters.
Minister Phipps said that the Federation should take the theme “Pledge for Parity” seriously.
“The women of our nation are our mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, nurturers, teachers, burden bearers, unsung heroes, and masters of sacrificial living and giving for the good of the families they love and raise. Moreover, provisional 2015 employment data illustrates that of a total labour force of 25,866 workers, a total of 13,530 are females – which represents 52 percent of the workforce. This reconfirms for me the fact that women continue to play an active part in (1) the generation of wealth; (2) national productivity improvements; (3) economic competitiveness; and (4) socio-economic stability.
“Add to this statistic the fact that more than 50 percent of our households are still headed by single mothers and one would have to agree that the advancement of St. Kitts and Nevis, to a considerable extent, is being fuelled by the energy, effort, intellect, skills and talents of our women folk.”
The minister commended the “giants of femininity” for a job well done.
“You are all epitomes of womanhood. You are woman. You are our Warriors; our Organisers; our Mentors & Matriarchs; our Adaptors, and our Nurturers. We salute you all,” remarked the minister.
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