Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals highlights the need for greater gender equality globally.  As the UN notes.

“…although there are more women than ever in the labour market, there are still large inequalities in some regions, with women systematically denied the same work rights as men. Sexual violence and exploitation, the unequal division of unpaid care and domestic work, and discrimination in public office all remain huge barriers. Climate change and disasters continue to have a disproportionate effect on women and children, as do conflict and migration. It is vital to give women equal rights land and property, sexual and reproductive health, and to technology and the internet. Today there are more women in public office than ever before, but encouraging more women leaders will help achieve greater gender equality.”

While the commendable objective of the sustainable development goals is to achieve certain basic targets by 2030, the 2020 Global Gender Gap Report coming out of the World Economic Forum projects that gender parity will not be achieved within the next 100 years.

Ever since the 1970s, Guyana has been seeking to provide greater inclusionary measures for women, primarily in the political sphere, yet the effects of these measures has been marginally effective in themselves.  Despite, for example, girls consistently over the past two decades out performing boys at a high school level, a World Bank survey in 2010 saw women accounting for only 17 percent of top management in private firms, and women CEOs for the 20 top firms in Guyana remain in the lower single digits.  In senior government, women account for just a total of around 10 ministers, only 3 of whom are Cabinet members.  Guyana remains an overwhelmingly patriarchal system.

Against this background, the WEF warning on gender parity is in itself a cause for concern.  However, a greater danger exists, directly linked to the oil economy.  As Michael L. Ross observes in his book, ‘The Oil Curse – How Petroleum Wealth Shapes the Development of Nations’:

“As countries get richer, women typically gain more opportunities – both the economic opportunities in the workplace, and political opportunities to serve in government. Yet this has not occurred in countries that get rich by selling petroleum. The benefits of oil booms usually go to men.”

In Guyana, with both the political sector and corporate sector disproportionately dominated by men, we believe that oil wealth will simply magnify the existing primarily patriarchal structures.  It is against this background that we believe that a radical programme of gender equity needs to be put in place.

Women in Public Leadership

We begin with ensuring that women have a larger role to play in political life in Guyana.  That is why one of our top priorities for Constitutional Reform is to increase the minimum statutory quota for women on any list from the current 30% to 40%.  This is not an impossible standard – not only is our list headed by a female Presidential Candidate, Ms. Rondha-Ann Lam, but 60 percent of our list is women.  Our proposal for structural change in governance via a Bicameral Legislature goes even further in meaningfully incorporating women into political leadership roles.

Economic Equity for Women

Political empowerment of women, according the WEF, is closely linked to the economic empowerment of women, but primarily at senior management levels.  If we are to address the issue of economic empowerment of women overall, both in itself and in furtherance of the goal of political empowerment of women, we need to address economic empowerment of women at all levels of the economy.

 At the mid-level, as we addressed in Pillar Two, we will focus a significant share of national equity investment under the Natural Resources Fund to women entrepreneurs.  As part of our tax regime reform measures, we will provide tax credits along a scale for companies that employ women in senior management positions. 

At the lowest levels of the economic ladder, we will provide a menu of measures for financial relief geared primarily at economically disadvantaged women from direct cash transfer of petroleum wealth to microcredit loans based on globally tried and test models including Grameen Bank.  Finally, considering the special challenges faced by women in creative industries, we will create and facilitate special access to grants, residences and scholarships to women in the creative sector.

Women’s Health and Personal Wellbeing

Women’s health is critical to the general development of the country.  As dealt with in our general healthcare plan, decentralisation and upgrading of public health facilities and services will see the primary beneficiaries being women in rural and other marginalised communities.  This includes our plans for mental health care with specific support for issues like stress, postnatal depression and trauma from sexual and domestic violence.  As we also expanded upon, our primary focus for speciality services will be oncological care since cancers in Guyana disproportionately affect women.