Among the 48 dis­tin­guished na­tion­als who will be pre­sent­ed with awards to­day are three women for their out­stand­ing con­tri­bu­tion to the de­vel­op­ment of women's rights and is­sues in T&T in the sphere of com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice. The cat­e­go­ry is an ad­di­tion to the an­nu­al awards. Co-or­di­na­tor of the Net­work of Non-Gov­ern­men­tal Or­gan­i­sa­tions Hazel Brown, so­cial ac­tivist Di­ana Ma­habir-Wy­att and Bren­da Gopeesingh are to be pre­sent­ed with the Medal for the De­vel­op­ment of Women (Gold).

Brown said the ini­tia­tive was Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar's. She said she was "not sure" how she felt. "I agree to ac­cept it be­cause I think it is time­ly and that the work that women do is ap­pre­ci­at­ed at na­tion­al lev­el be­cause we know that a lot of work women do, don't get the kind of sup­port need­ed," Brown said. "It is a con­tin­u­ing strug­gle to achieve the change that we work for." She said the award rep­re­sent­ed Per­sad-Bisses­sar's val­ues and the val­ues she put on the work women did. (RKR)