Women’s Committee

“PROMOTING WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION”

OUR MISSION

“To effectively represent and empower women primarily in the Civil Service Association and the wider society through constant education and social programmes, thereby creating a forum to promote issues affecting the development of women at the national level.”

HISTORY  OF INT. WOMEN'S DAY

International Women's Day (8 March) is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development. International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike against men in order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling for "liberty, equality, fraternity" marched on Versailles to demand women's suffrage. The idea of an International Women's Day first arose at the turn of the century, which in the industrialized world was a period of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth and radical ideologies. Following is a brief chronology of the most important events:

1909

In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate it on the last Sunday of that month through 1913.

 1910

The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, established a Women's Day, international in character, to honour the movement for women's rights and to assist in achieving universal suffrage for women. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament. No fixed date was selected for the observance.

The Role of the United Nations

Over the years, United Nations action for the advancement of women has taken four clear directions:

• promotion of legal measures;

• mobilization of public opinion and international action;

• training and research, including the compilation of gender desegregated statistics;

and direct assistance to disadvantaged groups. Today a central organizing principle of the work of the United Nations is that no enduring solution to society's most threatening social, economic and political problems can be found without the full participation, and the full empowerment, of the world's women.

Published by the United Nations Department of Public Information--DPI/1878--January 1997

Health  AND WELLNESS

The Committee organized a Women’s workshop to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Women’s day. The workshop was held under the theme “Health and Wellness” and was held at the CSA’s Auditorium on Tuesday, March 8, 2011. Over forty (40) women activists attended the activity which was coordinated by Miss Anselma Calderon, Deputy Director, Training Division, and Ministry of the Public Service. The women were able to attract some very qualified, experienced, and knowledgeable facilitators in the persons of Dr. Stephen King, Dr. Segun Tobias and Mrs. Patricia Biscette-Modeste. This workshop was very interactive and generated much debate and discussion. We have extracted the following comments from the evaluation forms of some of the participants:    

· I really enjoyed every aspect and every speaker”

· The seminar/workshop was very informative and factual”

· The wealth of information shared in such short sessions there was 100% participation”

· It was very informative, interesting and interactive”

· Lots of information gained; very informative and interesting;

· well organized and relevant”

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WOMEN’S RIGHTS

Women’s rights around the world is an important indicator to understand global well-being.

A major global women’s rights treaty was ratified by the majority of the world’s nations a few decades ago.

Yet, despite many successes in empowering women, numerous issues still exist in all areas of life, ranging from the cultural, political to the economic. For example, women often work more than men, yet are paid less; gender discrimination affects girls and women throughout their lifetime; and women and girls are often are the ones that suffer the most poverty.

Many may think that women’s rights are only an issue in countries where religion is law, such as many Muslim countries. Or even worse, some may think this is no longer an issue at all. But reading this report about the United Nation’s Women’s Treaty and how an increasing number of countries are lodging reservations, will show otherwise.

Gender equality furthers the cause of child survival and development for all of society, so the importance of women’s rights and gender equality should not be underestimated.