On Thursday, the General Assembly convened a high-level meeting on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women.
According to a release from the Office of the Prime Minister, this is one in a series of high-level meetings taking place this week including the Inter-American Commission of Women meeting and the Commonwealth Secretariat Regional Consultations held earlier this week.
Ayanna Webster-Roy, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister read Trinidad and Tobago’s Country Statement and updated the Assembly on the ways the Government has actioned its political will in accelerating gender equality and equity through legislation and mainstreaming gender at the national level.
She explained that the Government understands that violence against women and girls is a manifestation of unequal power relations, toxic masculine behaviours and negative stereotypes, which have devastating outcomes on the society.
Webster-Roy reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
She also reiterated its commitment to fast-tracking the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all vulnerable groups as identified in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 5 and 10.
This requires creative and transformative change, in order to end systemic discrimination, all forms of gender-based violence, toxic norms and gender stereotypes that inhibit women and girls and the entire society from reaching its fullest potential.
It also calls for individual responsibility and behaviour change on the part of everyone in the country.
The World Conference on Women focused on the theme “Accelerating the Realization of Gender Equality and the Empowerment of all Women and Girls.”
The meeting is a key opportunity to bring to the forefront the relevance of the Beijing Declaration and the move to accelerate the implementation of its Plan of Action to ensure gender equality and the advancement of women and girls.
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