US Ambassador to Guyana, Brent Hardt underscored the critical role of women in economic and societal development at the launch of the Guyana Chapter of the Women Entrepreneurs’ Network Caribbean (WEN Caribbean) recently at Roraima Duke Lodge.
According to a press release from the US Embassy, the ambassador pointed out that investing in women-owned small and medium sized enterprises is one of the best ways a country can achieve lasting economic, financial and social impacts.
The US government is actively working with partners from public, private and non-profit sectors to promote economic opportunity and social inclusion for women.
Two Guyanese businesswomen, Lucia L Desir and Barbara Dublin-Peterkin were instrumental in the launch, the release said. Desir is the Managing Director of D & J Shipping Service and Dublin-Peterkin is the CEO of B’s Beauty and Naturopathic Centre; and Visions of Excellence Personal Development Centre.
They had represented Guyana at the Caribbean Women Entrepreneurs’ Forum in Washington DC in March 2012, sponsored by the US Department of State’s Global Women’s Issues Division. Following the forum they joined with Caribbean counterparts to establish the Women Entrepreneurs Network Caribbean (WEN Caribbean) last year. The Guyana chapter is now part of this broader regional network.
Following their participation in the forum and the launching of WEN Caribbean, Desir and Dublin-Peterkin developed a network to share their experiences and knowledge to empower more Guyanese women entrepreneurs committee to growing their businesses at the small and medium levels. According to the release, “WEN seeks to strengthen the voice, visibility and viability of women-led businesses in Guyana and the Caribbean through advocacy, training, networking, and identifying and sharing best practices and resources to support the entrepreneurship development of its members.”
At the launch, Desir said that at the Washington forum, the women entrepreneurs were connected to tools and resources made available by the US government to support women in business. She said that through WEN Caribbean, they will harness those tools for the growth development of women in Guyana. She said the executives of WEN Caribbean will coordinate activities throughout the region, including recruiting new members from the various Caribbean nations and sensitising public and private-sector agencies about WEN Caribbean and launching the organisation’s website at wencaribbean.org.
The release said that building upon the success of the Caribbean Women’s initiative, President Obama and former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton had launched the Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Americas (WEAmericas) initiative at the Summit of the Americas in April 2012. WEAmericas leverages public-private partnerships to increase women’s economic participation in Latin America and the Caribbean by reducing barriers women often face in starting and growing small and medium sized enterprises. These include access to training and networks, to markets, and to finance.
