Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar urged women on Saturday to show a greater level of confidence and participate in the political and economic life of the country.
She was speaking at a fund raising dinner of the SAATHI Foundation in Chaguanas.
Persad-Bissessar said the Government would be hosting a regional meeting of women in June to discuss issues relating to the empowerment of women and girls and identify areas of discrimination against women.
“I am particularly concerned about the quality of maternal deaths in our country, as well as the rate of infant mortality.," she said, adding,."We must do better.”
“I hope to mount a colloquium of women leaders on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2011,” she said. The Prime Minister added that this country must lead the way by challenging outmoded thinking and even traditions about the place and role of women in society.
Persad-Bissessar said global statistics show that women with even the minimum of primary and secondary education had healthier children, noting that it is because "they have learnt about sanitation, nutrition, disease and access to healthcare.”
She added, “And we also know that educated women spend more of the household income to educate their children, with the hope of giving them a better future."
The Prime Minister also expressed concerns about the conditions of working women. “There are too many reports of the exploitation of women, of them not being paid the minimum wage, of the lack of facilities for rest when they fall ill at work."
She said Trinidad and Tobago must be a humane society. and pledged that all new government buildings would be equipped with day-care centres. She urged private organisations to follow the example that the government is setting.
“The nurturing of a child by a parent, particularly a mother, is vital to the child’s mental development,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar also spoke about the Daniel Guerra decree which she announced just after the death of Daniel Guerra of Gasparillo.
“My objective is to ensure that all children in our country live in a safe and secure environment...we must return to the ideal of the past, where the well-being of children was a responsibility shared by the community,” she said.
She was speaking at a fund raising dinner of the SAATHI Foundation in Chaguanas.
Persad-Bissessar said the Government would be hosting a regional meeting of women in June to discuss issues relating to the empowerment of women and girls and identify areas of discrimination against women.
“I am particularly concerned about the quality of maternal deaths in our country, as well as the rate of infant mortality.," she said, adding,."We must do better.”
“I hope to mount a colloquium of women leaders on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2011,” she said. The Prime Minister added that this country must lead the way by challenging outmoded thinking and even traditions about the place and role of women in society.
Persad-Bissessar said global statistics show that women with even the minimum of primary and secondary education had healthier children, noting that it is because "they have learnt about sanitation, nutrition, disease and access to healthcare.”
She added, “And we also know that educated women spend more of the household income to educate their children, with the hope of giving them a better future."
The Prime Minister also expressed concerns about the conditions of working women. “There are too many reports of the exploitation of women, of them not being paid the minimum wage, of the lack of facilities for rest when they fall ill at work."
She said Trinidad and Tobago must be a humane society. and pledged that all new government buildings would be equipped with day-care centres. She urged private organisations to follow the example that the government is setting.
“The nurturing of a child by a parent, particularly a mother, is vital to the child’s mental development,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar also spoke about the Daniel Guerra decree which she announced just after the death of Daniel Guerra of Gasparillo.
“My objective is to ensure that all children in our country live in a safe and secure environment...we must return to the ideal of the past, where the well-being of children was a responsibility shared by the community,” she said.
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