It is a great pleasure for me to be here this morning and I wish first to say a warm thank you to the organisers for inviting me to the opening of this Conference on "Empowering Women For This Millennium" and for giving me the opportunity to address this very important issue. I want as well to commend the Central Assembly of God Church for taking this important initiative to raise the general awareness of the importance of focusing on the issue of empowering women.

As we move towards International Women's Day later this week, the discussions to be had over the course of the next three days are timely. As we move ahead to face the challenges and opportunities of the 21^st Century, it is very important that we seek a broad understanding of the barriers which remain in the way of women in fulfilling their potential and maximising their contribution - whether at the level of the family, the wider society and beyond. It is my hope that as a consequence of these discussions the participants in this conference will take the message beyond the walls of this conference, and so stimulate persons throughout the society to understanding that empowerment of women is everyone's responsibility and to everyone's benefit.

But what do we mean by empowerment of women? We mean several things including the following three sets of actions:

• The removal of institutional barriers - be they laws, administrative policies and practices and/or cultural norms -which discriminate against women;

• The enactment of legislation which guarantees equal access to opportunities and resources and equal protection under the law; and

• Ensuring women's access to education, knowledge and skill which are critical to improving the ability of women to achieve their potential for themselves, their families and their communities.

Essentially, the "empowerment" defined by these three sets of actions implies improving the status of women through the expansion of personal choice and the creation of the conditions which promote the achievement of economic independence. This economic independence is a core objective of empowerment and a critical element in the fight against poverty and social disintegration.

Studies of our region have shown that although poverty is not peculiar to women, the burden is undeniably heavier. As the main providers in an increasing number of households, women have to carry the financial burden of their household in addition to providing emotional and psychological support - a double burden which makes it difficult for women to free themselves from the grasp of poverty.

The CARICOM Post-Beijing Regional Plan Of Action identifies a number of gender related issues that are linked to poverty. These include:

• the fact that poverty is particularly high among female single heads of households, teenage mothers, rural and indigenous women, elderly women and women with disabilities;

• gender segregation exists in the labour market;

• there is a lack of social support for child and family care; and,

• sexual harassment of women workers continues with workers in isolated, non-unionized jobs being particularly vulnerable.

"The Caribbean Sub-regional Review and Appraisal Report on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action" reinforces the serious nature of the problem of poverty and its grip on women by its analysis of the "obligation of care-taking and care-giving", which stereo-typically is responsibility of women.

Women's care-giving obligations at home in conjunction with the obligations of the workplace, reinforces poverty in two ways. First, they leave women exhausted, without time for self-development activities which would be important in improving income-earning capacity and, secondly, the obligations of care-giving also forces women to elect employment which is poorly paid but which offers conditions compatible with child care and household obligations." In other words, women choose lower paying jobs which allow them more time to take care of their families. But by choosing these jobs, their scope for improving their lives and that of their families is reduced.

The implications of this position in which women - one-half of our population - find themselves are immense: the structure of the society itself is standing in the way of the economic transformation which is critical to social progress which we seek. Put another way, the barriers which stand in the way of women making improvements in their lives are, in fact, barriers to social and economic progress of the society as a whole, since the benefits of improving the status of women are felt throughout the society as women continue in their role of care-givers to their families.

The link between the status of women and socio-economic progress is clear. The main implication is also clear for the kinds of policy approaches which are intended to bring real economic and social improvements. The implication is this: to the extent that the root of the socio-economic problem can be better understood through an analysis from the gender perspective, the solution to the problem, if it contains a gender perspective, has a greater possibility of success.

To a large extent, we in the Caribbean have accepted the importance of focusing on the improvement of the status of women as a key objective of social policy and, to a lesser extent, as an important indicator of social progress. For example, studies have shown that we have, in a general sense, largely removed gender discrimination in access to education. However, it is still the case that the quality of the educational experience differs according to gender. The question is no longer whether enrolment rates for girl children are the same as for boy children. The concerns now relate to whether the nature and content of the education which is provided to girls is free from gender bias, and whether it provides equal access to the job market for men and women.

In fact, it has been determined that girls continue to opt for and/or be streamed at much higher rates than boys into the Arts and Humanities, while boys continue to dominate the natural sciences. I know, for example, of a relatively recent case of a girl child, graduated from 6^th Form with the requisite qualifications and real desire to pursue university education in civil engineering being advised by "well-meaning" education officials that the course is too "tough" and that she would not feel comfortable in a faculty of mainly male students and lecturers.

This approach to educating boys and girls means that women eventually find themselves qualified for the less technical, lower status, lower paying jobs.

Further, it is also still the case that even when women achieve the same type and level of education and experience as men, they are generally paid less for the same work.

This devaluation of the work that women do is a critical indicator of the gender-based inequities which remain to be overcome.

What does this analysis tell us that we should be doing to improve the status of women in our societies? It tells us that our poverty alleviation strategies must include leadership training for women, legal reform and gender main-streaming.

We need to review the system of education to remove the gender stereotyping which exists. In as much as girls need to know that it is okay to want to do the natural sciences, boys need to know that it is okay for them to want to excel in the arts and humanities.

Secondly, both men and women must be challenged to view their individual roles and that of each other differently. The time has come for women to stop seeing themselves only in the historical role of care-giver whether in the home or in the workforce; and for men to stop seeing themselves only in the role of providers. In this modern world where the economic realities require that both men and women need to be in the work force doing the work of the "provider", the social realities equally require that both men and women do the work of the "care giver".

Thirdly, for there to be a meaningful shift in the perception of the roles of women and men, there has to be a fundamental revaluation of the work that women have traditionally done. This work that women have traditionally done as must be seen for what it is - essential for the production and reproduction of society and therefore inherently valuable. The valuation of unwaged work is a key exercise in this regard, but in a fundamental sense it cannot be a fruitful exercise unless there is a major transformation of the way we - women and men - think and the way society is structured.

Fourthly, we need a fundamental change in behavioural attitudes. In this regard, it is most important to sensitise the public that violence is unacceptable for settling differences, as a means of entertainment and as an expression of power.

How do we achieve this transformation? On the one hand, it is necessary for women to continue to seek to perceive themselves differently, and to project that new thinking into the wider society. But this change in perception of self by women is not sufficient. There also needs to be a fundamental shift in the way men perceive themselves. Most fundamentally, there needs to be a shift in the way women and men perceive each other. One hand can't clap. We need both hands.

I ask the question again, how do we achieve this transformation?

I believe that this transformation will not take place until the issue of political empowerment is addressed. For many of us - women and men - the political arena is still considered the domain of men and as a result, there continues to be far too few women holding positions of authority and responsibility in government, in the corporate world, in political organisations and in the church. Consequently women seldom play an active role at the highest levels of policy-making and generally do not have meaningful opportunities to contribute to the decision-making process.

If we see politics as a process of creative engagement by which women and men seek the means of meeting the challenges of their everyday lives then we see an expanding role for women in the political arena. However, as a result of their absence from the political arena women have not been playing a major role in charting policies which impact on every facet of their lives.

So far in the region, the role of women in politics has been largely limited to women's issues. While this is important, it is also crucially important for women - as women - to be involved in all aspects of development of the society in which we live. We have to make the transition from women addressing only women's issues to women addressing all issues which affect the society in which women and men live.

As we redouble our efforts to alleviate poverty, which as indicated earlier disproportionately affects women, and to increase the participation of women in decision-making at all levels, especially at the national political level, the wider social benefit of enabling and empowering our women can be achieved.

Over the next three days, as the participants in this Conference address the issues facing women in various aspects of their lives - including in business, in the home, in the church, in society - many of these issues will arise. I hope that the experiences you will share and the understanding you will develop will be fruitful and motivating at the personal social level, and I entreat you to continue these discussions even after the Conference is over, for continuous discussion and analysis is essential to understanding the complex issues facing women and men in our society.

As I close, I want to wish all of you a Happy International Women's Day later this week.

I now take great pleasure in declaring this Conference open.

I thank you.