Quotes from 9WAMM
The 9th Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers meeting is taking place in Bridgetown, Barbados over the next two days. Delegates from around the Commonwealth have begun discussions on the role of women in transforming societies in the context of the economic downturn, and its impacts.
The 9th Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers meeting is taking place in Bridgetown, Barbados over the next two days. Delegates from around the Commonwealth have begun discussions on the role of women in transforming societies in the context of the economic downturn, and its impacts.
Here is a selection of inspiring quotes from the meeting:
“I embrace the view that women can play a pivotal role in the recovery process and support the call for initiatives that lead to the creation of facilities to enable them to not only weather the storm but to assume their rightful place in the design of the transformation process” - Hon Freundel Stuart, Acting Prime Minister of Barbados.
“We are all brothers and sisters in history and on this occasion we will focus on the challenges facing our sister citizens of our respective societies as a result of the current global economic experience” - Hon Stephen Lashley, the Minister of Youth, Family and Sport in Barbados.
“Half of our Commonwealth population receives considerably less than half of our attention, and faces considerably more than half of our challenges” -Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma.
“Women must drive change, and transformation. We must own not just the solution, but the entire process, in every level of policy formulation and decision making” - Iyom Josephine Anenih, the Minister of Women’s Affairs and Social Development in Nigeria.
“The majority of the world’s poor are women. The majority of the 1.5 billion people living on one dollar a day or less are women. Female headed households are poorer than male headed households. Poverty does have a gender dimension”- The Hon Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, State Minister in Charge of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs, Bangladesh.
“Women may all too often find themselves at the bottom of the heap, but the poverty faced by many women in the world does not stop them from putting resources to good use if they can, whether it is in starting small businesses or in ensuring education for their children” – Dame Stephanie Shirley, The British Government’s Founding Ambassador for Philanthropy.