Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller (third left), who was presented with a citation by Senator Zulma Ramona Gomez Caceres (second left), president, Confederation of Parliamentarians of the Americas (COPA) — in recognition of her 40 years as a parliamentarian — shares her special moment little Zoe Walker and Sharon Ffolkes Abrahams, state minister in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Michael Peart. The presentation was made yesterday at the 27th Meeting of the Executive Committee of COPA and the Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Network of Women Parliamentarians of the Americas at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa. (PHOTO: ACEION CUNNINGHAM)
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ROSE HALL, St James — Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller says not enough progress is being made to have more women participate in the political process, as she renewed her call for more females to become world leaders.
Simpson Miller was addressing yesterday's closing session of the 27th meeting of the Executive Committee of the Parliamentary Confederation of the Americas (COPA) at the Hilton Rose Hall Hotel in St James, where she was presented with a citation by Senator Zulma Ramona Gomez Caceres, president of COPA in recognition of her 40 years as a female politician.
Arguing that there is a practical argument that supports her position, Simpson Miller pointed out that on a daily basis millions of women across the globe are making fundamental decisions that affect the survival and well-being of their families.
"They are involved in organising, supervising, demonstrating problem solving skills, mediating and in general playing the part of a stabilising force. These are skills that are necessary for political work," Simpson Miller told the gathering consisting mostly of women.
She stressed that female leadership across the world had helped to reshape "our contemporary societies and their human development challenges", citing former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan, whom she said had paved the way for female world leaders.
"They helped to create a world in which female political leadership would not continue to be an exception but a valid expectation. These women refused to be defined by the constraints that sought to confine them particularly in the realm of politics," she argued.
