It is a matter for much commendation that at last the mere talk in the past, of setting up a Gender Affairs Unit, appears to be over with the now robust effort by government, and a working group of specially-selected persons, to establish and develop such an entity within the Ministry of Home Affairs. The face of that Unit is Mrs Ronya Foy-Connor, the newly-appointed Coordinator of Gender Development, whose influence and readiness for the tasks ahead are already being seen, working in close collaboration with the Principal Assistant Secretary, Mr Kenneth Hodge, and others.
A present focus is recognising our women, their lives, achievements and contributions to Anguilla. To some extent, this is reflected in this edition of The Anguillian where the Ministry and Gender Affairs Unit have placed a page of photographs and script on a sample of our womenfolk. It has been explained that there was no discrimination in the selection of those persons – all that mattered was their contributions and achievements, and the need to celebrate them as outstanding women whether or not they are Anguillians by nationality, belongership or simply sojourners.
The above recognition and other plans to honour women in Anguilla in general, are timely in the run-up to International Women’s Day on Saturday, March 8, and their involvement in that celebration. The Women’s Day event has as its theme: “Inspiring change. Women’s equality has made positive gains but the world is still unequal”.
The task for our Gender Affairs Unit, and indeed for all civic and other groups in Anguilla, is to do their part to reduce that inequality in our small society; to fight domestic violence and discrimination against women; and to promote them as an important influence in the family home and community.
It is a matter for much admiration, pride and commendation, that in Anguilla many of our women occupy lofty positions of authority and influence. We see them as Principals and Deputy Principals in all of our schools; Permanent Secretaries in Ministries; Heads of Departments of Public Administration, Immigration, Labour, Information and Broadcasting, Statistics, Health Authority, Managers, Speaker of the House of Assembly, Attorneys-at-Law, and other outstanding and senior personnel in the public and private sectors – and the list goes on. Included in that count, of course, are the Governor, the Resident Judge and the Senior Magistrate, who are sojourning among us. Our Anguillian women have really excelled – and those who were not so lucky, or, in some cases may be downtrodden for one reason or another, must be helped along the way where possible.
In order to be fair and well-balanced in terms of gender affairs, attention must also be paid to our menfolk – not of course forgetting our upcoming boys and girls who are in fact the hope and future of Anguilla. As is the case with of our women, we must be concerned about their welfare and accord them equal recognition, support and attention. At the same time, our men must do everything possible to elevate themselves as our women are doing with increasing success.
It is just a week or so away from the observance of International Women’s Day. Ahead of that date, the opportunity is taken here to offer all of our women in Anguilla every good wish in their upward mobility and in celebration of their personal achievements and contributions to our island.
