St. George’s, Grenada, March 8th 2011: The Women’s Arm of the New National Party joins the Political leader, Dr. the Rt. Hon Keith Mitchell and other executive members of the New National Party to salute all Grenadian women at home and abroad as the world celebrates 100 years of women’s achievement today. 

The NNP views this year’s celebration as a tremendous milestone as Grenadian women and indeed women throughout the world have been able to overcome numerous barriers of oppression and inequality.  While the struggle continues, women must be reminded that the achievements of the past must be used as a springboard in moving forward.   Indeed we have come a long way but there is still a long way to go. 

The theme for this year’s celebrations “Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women” is very timely and relevant as we celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women past, and present.  However as we look ahead we see that the current social, political and economic situation posing significant challenges and hardship for women especially those who head households. We therefore take this opportunity to call on the Government of Grenada on this day to immediately take the following actions in support of our womenfolk and by extension our nation:

1.  Return of the Yes I can Literacy Programme so every woman despite their age or academic level can have the opportunity to become literate.
2. Create more training opportunities at the community level so more women are better able to access or create employment opportunities
3. Provide greater support so single mothers and other disadvantaged women in our communities can cope with the declining economic situation.  We therefore call for greater support through programmes such as the School Assistance Programme for needy students,  the school feeding programme, the school books rental programmes, the food basket programme, and other programmes which were available under the New National Party’s Government.

 Today as women of the New National Party we reflect on the progress made by Grenadian women at home and abroad, we celebrate the acts of courage, the determination and the way that ordinary women have contributed to the social, political and economic development of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. As a result we take this opportunity, on this very important day to call upon the recently formed Grenada Women Parliamentary Caucus to work in the interest of the women of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique to ensure that issues affecting women are truly addressed.  We further call on the Grenada National Organization for women to be an independent and effective voice for the women of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.