Philipsburg – United People’s (UP) Party Board President Sylvia Meyers and the Powered UP Women group wishes Sint Maarten/St. Martin women happy International Women’s Day, Sunday, March 8.
This day is celebrated globally to profile the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a roadmap signed by 189 governments 20-years ago that sets the agenda for realizing women’s rights around the globe.
The 2015 International Women’s Day theme is: “Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture it!”
Despite great strides made in the advancement of women’s rights, women still lag behind men across an array of critical areas, from political representation and wage equality to education.
According to United Nations (UN) UN Women, in fact, approximately 50 per cent of women worldwide are in paid employment – an increase from 40 per cent more than 20 years ago.
Today, only one in five parliamentarians is a women while, at the present rate of progress, it will take an estimated 81 years for women to achieve parity in employment. At the same time, the pandemic of violence against women and girls affects one in three women worldwide.
“Sint Maarten/St. Martin women have come a long way where women’s rights are concerned. Women in Sint Maarten own their own businesses, are involved in politics, are leaders in our community organizations and are managers in various companies locally and also part of international companies who have branches in the country.
“We have had our first woman as Prime Minister and also as President of Parliament. Women continue to play a key role in the parliament of Sint Maarten where today close to one third of our 15-member legislative body are women.
“Sint Maarten women can be proud of themselves. I would like to use this opportunity to thank the women UP supporters for their steadfast continued support on behalf of the UP family, Happy Women’s Day,” UP Party President and former UP MP Sylvia Meyers said on Sunday.