Akash Sama­roo

Lead Ed­i­tor - Pol­i­tics 

On the glob­al stage, this coun­try has reaf­firmed its com­mit­ment to en­gen­der­ing a safe and just world for women and girls.

De­liv­er­ing re­marks at the Unit­ed Na­tions Head­quar­ters in New York, on be­half of Trinidad and To­ba­go at the High-Lev­el Meet­ing on the 30th An­niver­sary of the Fourth World Con­fer­ence on Women, For­eign and Cari­com Af­fairs Min­is­ter Sean Sobers de­clared, “Let us work to­geth­er to dis­man­tle sys­temic bar­ri­ers and cre­ate a world where every woman and girl can live with dig­ni­ty, free­dom and op­por­tu­ni­ty. To­geth­er we can build such a world where gen­der equal­i­ty is not just a goal, but a re­al­i­ty for all.”

Dur­ing his con­tri­bu­tion on Sun­day af­ter­noon, Sobers said, “Trinidad and To­ba­go has long ad­vo­cat­ed for a so­ci­ety where women and girls are em­pow­ered and pro­mot­ed and has con­sis­tent­ly ad­vo­cat­ed for the re­moval of sys­temic bar­ri­ers that in­hib­it equal­i­ty at home, in the work­place and in the wider so­ci­ety.”

Sun­day marked the 30th an­niver­sary of the Bei­jing De­c­la­ra­tion and Plat­form for Ac­tion. The Bei­jing De­c­la­ra­tion and Plat­form for Ac­tion is a land­mark glob­al pol­i­cy doc­u­ment for the ad­vance­ment of women's rights and gen­der equal­i­ty.

Sobers told the Unit­ed Na­tions, “From wage gaps and gen­der-based vi­o­lence to un­equal ac­cess to op­por­tu­ni­ties, the chal­lenges are re­al and ur­gent. Emerg­ing glob­al crises such as cli­mate change, con­flict and tech­no­log­i­cal di­vides fur­ther ex­ac­er­bate these in­equal­i­ties, de­mand­ing our un­wa­ver­ing fo­cus and ac­tion. This com­mem­o­ra­tion is not just a cel­e­bra­tion of the gains made thus far, but an ur­gent call to ac­tion for the work yet to be done.”

The Min­is­ter’s call for a safer world for women and girls came on the same day 12-year-old Mari­ah Seenath was found mur­dered near her home in Friend­ship Vil­lage, Ste Made­line.

This coun­try is a sig­na­to­ry to the UN Con­ven­tion on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and is due for a fresh re­view by the UN Com­mit­tee on the Rights of the Child next year to as­sess its progress in im­ple­ment­ing the Con­ven­tion.