Social Services Minister Melanie Griffin began celebrations for the upcoming International Women’s Day yesterday morning with a roundtable discussion focusing on a number of issues impacting women.
Students from schools across the capital gathered at the BCPOU Hall eager to start their discussions with the panel consisting of four speakers from various government agencies.
Minister Griffin, who gave remarks at the event, spoke on ‘Women and Poverty’ and ‘Women and the Environment’. She focused mainly on poverty statistics among women throughout the country, providing students with the “hard facts” of daily increasing poverty conditions.
“A Household Expenditure Survey conducted in The Bahamas by the Department of Statistics in 2013 revealed that almost 52 per cent of all poor persons were females and that their poverty rate was slightly lower than their male counterparts,” she said.
“By contrast, households headed by females accounted for 47 per cent of all poor households and had a higher rate of poverty than that of households headed by males. The survey further revealed the direct correlation between poverty and education, the number of persons, including children in the family and unemployment.”
Minister Griffin encouraged those students to take advantage of the discussions. She pushed them to be the change that they want to see in women in society.
“If there is only one thing you can do as an individual or part of a group to decrease poverty among women and young girls and improve the environment in The Bahamas, do it,” she said.
“You students are the change makers of tomorrow. I encourage you to listen attentively, ask thought provoking questions and know that when you improve the lives of women and young girls, you are making a huge difference in the human development of your country.”
Minister Griffin urged the nation to focus on empowering women. She said she doesn’t want the Bahamian people to only focus on women during this significant day but all year round.
International Women’s Day 2015 will be this Sunday.
