The Tribune

MINISTER of Social Services and Community Development Melanie Griffin encouraged a group of local and international corporate businesswomen to take on the mantle of the Women’s Suffrage Movement and “show our sisters a better way.”

Addressing the opening session of the International Business Money Women Success Conference, 2013, Mrs Griffin told delegates they must help to empower the less fortunate among them.

“We must help each other, we must empower each other, we must empower ourselves, and we must show our sisters a better way,” she said.

The 2013 conference was designed to provide corporate businesswomen with the knowledge and skills they need to excel in their careers, making themselves more marketable, more creative, and better wealth managers.

Organisers also aim to unite participants with other professional women to network and build a better Bahamian business community.

Mrs Griffin applauded delegates for their achievements in the corporate world thus far, but admonished them not to rest on their laurels as there is much work to be done to change the economic status of many Bahamian women — many of whom, she said, are living in poverty and struggling to feed their families.

She said if women are to change the economic status of their sisters, then they must be “adequately represented at the decision-making levels in all aspects of society and more of us need to step forward and make this happen whether it is in the church, the world of business, governance or in politics.

“The world as we know it is changing at a rapid pace,” Mrs Griffin said. “We are living in a technological and information age. To advance women’s opportunities in a sustained way, investing in the education and training of women and girls in non-traditional professions is needed. I therefore urge you to support and mentor young women in this regard.

“Let us never forget the words of Dame Dr Doris Johnson and the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the 1959 Petition as they fought for our right to vote, coining the phrases: ‘Invincible womanhood; mother of men; ruler of the world.’

“Where is that invincible womanhood today? We are the inheritors of the struggle and it is our time to raise our ‘noble heads’ and continue the journey began by those great warriors of the Women’s Suffrage Movement.

“There is no doubt in my mind that changing the economic status of the Bahamian woman will lead to prosperity not only for women themselves, but for their families, their communities ad the entire country,” Minister Griffin said.

“This will require training and resources for small business ventures including those that can be done from home. In addition to the other sectors, the financial sector of the Bahamas must be more responsive in developing and implementing services that are tailored to the needs of our women.”