The Executive Committee of the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) says the government should be ashamed of what it has termed “an affront to women” by the disproportionate number represented in the membership of 20 out of the 32 named State Boards.
According to a press release yesterday from the GHRA, “All government functionaries responsible should feel ashamed over today’s announcement that only three (9.4%) of the new Chairs of the thirty-two (32) State Boards in the Finance Sector are females.”
Further, GHRA said, although the Government has only announced the full membership of 20 out of the 32 boards thus far, only 18% are females which represents 22 persons out of a possible 125; and of that figure, one woman serves on three boards and another on two. Both women are employees of the Ministry of Finance.
However, in noting the composition of the 125 members of the Finance Sector Boards, the GHRA has said, 15 persons are still to be named by other agencies such as the ministries, the trade union movement and the private sector.
Besides the Finance Sector Boards, there seems to be a repetition of the gender imbalance in the gazetted membership of the Guyana Rice Development Board which constitutes 13 persons and of which only one is female (8%), GHRA said.
Compounding the issue, is the “gender insensitivity” shown via the Official Gazette as it has listed three of the female Chairs as “Chairmen.”
“That the appointments could be released without any attempt to explain or excuse this affront to women, suggests that gender parity had not been a consideration,” the GHRA said. Equally disturbing, however was the “obliviousness to the issue.”
“Whether this insult to women is a one-off thoughtless act or more institutionally determined… is a matter for continuous monitoring.” The release said.
“Moreover,” GHRA said, “having created a Ministry – not a Unit or an Agency but an entire Ministry – devoted to Social Cohesion, the average citizen could be forgiven for wondering how a blunder of this magnitude could pass without detection or comment.”
