The Deputy Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands Hon, Akierra Missick is expected to play a leading role in the three day Commonwealth Women Parliamentarian’s Association International conference, which got underway in Nassau, Bahamas Tuesday 21 to Friday 23 May 2014.
The Hon, Akierra Missick, will close the conference this evening with an address that highlights the achievements of female parliamentarians in the TCI, where they account for 46% of those sitting in the Island’s House of Assembly. She will describe the contribution of women to other key position in TCI society such as the Deputy Governor, the Hon Anya Williams, Attorney General, the Hon Rhondalee Braithwaite-Knowles and the significant role of women in TCI politics, including thanking her predecessors Dr. Rosita Butterfield and Arabella Smith.
The conference is focusing on the topic ‘The Voice, The Vote, The Victory’. It will devise strategies for increasing women’s participation and representation in the parliamentary process, ensuring that there is a fair representation of women’s rights and concerns within their respective countries. Delegates will report next year on progress in bringing new initiatives that will further bring women to the fore across the region.
“Wednesday was a very special day as the senior delegates were invited to the Bahamas Parliament where we were welcomed by Speaker of the House Hon Kendal Major, Ministers Rt. Hon. Glynnes Hanna-Martin, Minister of Transport & Aviation, and the Rt. Hon. Melanie Griffin, Minister of Social Development,” said Deputy Premier Akierra Missick.
“It was rewarding and humbling to meet with and discuss the future of women in politics with women of the stature of the Right Hon. Rebbecca Kadaga, who is chairing the event. She was the first women speaker in the Ugandan parliament, which has 375 members. She is a real trailblazer in a traditional East African patriarchal society, and reminds me of other ground-breakers in the Caribbean such as Jamaican Prime Minister the Most Hon. Portia Simpson-Miller, the Bahamas’ Dame Marguerite Pindling, and former Bermuda Premier Paula Cox,” the Hon. Missick added.
Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Sharlene Cartwright Robinson who’s attending that conference as well, also play a key role, having had the honor of moderating a very important Session entitled “The State of The Region: The Way Forward,” managing the discussions from the floor and summarising the contributions.
Ahead of leaving for the conference, she said she looked forward to sharing in this experience again as a delegate, having been afforded the opportunity to attend a Meeting of the CWP in 2000 as an Observer and benefitted greatly from the encounter. “It is always good to hear of the issues other women face and to plan the way forward as to how we can make greater contributions particularly in our individual countries and our Region,” she said before leaving for the conference.
Deputy Premier Akierra Missick and Opposition Leader Hon. Sharlene Cartwright Robinson are joined at the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarian’s Association International conference by Deputy Clerk to the House of Assembly, Mrs. Lydia Butterfeld.
They are among twenty-six delegates from the region attending the CWP Conference in Nassau, which ends today Friday.
