Hall - Governor-General

Internationally, women have achieved greater equality in legislative rights, are more visible in the boardroom, and are impressive role models in every aspect of life, than they were a century ago.

While improvements in the quality of life for women are evident, there is much to be done towards improving their soci-economic status for personal empowerment, and increasing access to quality health and education.

The observance of International Women's Day brings the attention of the entire world to the fact that the full empowerment of women is intricately linked to the sustained progress of the global society.

Here in Jamaica, gender equality is actively promoted to ensure that everyone is able to participate fully in the political and economic processes in our nation.

Strength

The strength and resource-fulness of Jamaican women continue to be evident in their positions of leadership and responsibility in all spheres of national life. What lessens the impact of women on the growth and development of this country, however, are the degrading acts of violence towards them in the home and wider community.

It is felt that through education and motivation women will be empowered to protect themselves against violence of every nature. This year's theme, therefore, will playa significant role in increasing awareness on the strategies that can be adopted to protect women from harmful actions against them, and the programmes that have been established to assist those who become victims.

I congratulate the women of Jamaica, and it is my hope that more effort will be placed on advancing the goals of equality, development and peace for our women, and on empowering them through increased entrepreneurial opportunities.

- Professor Kenneth Hall

Giving due recognition to our women

The following are excerpts of Opposition Leader Bruce Golding's message to mark International Women's Day.

As we commemorate International Women's Day, we are afforded the opportunity of highlighting and giving due recognition to the accomplish-ments, struggles and outstanding contributions of our women.

For many years, women have fought for gender equality, recognition and respect; and many of them are proudly taking their place at the helm of many corporate, business and political organisations, locally and internationally.

Despite these exceptional achievements, there are some challenges with which our women still have to contend - chief among them being the escalating rates of physical abuse being perpetrated against them, oftentimes resulting in death.

I urge our women to take a stance against violation of their basic human rights. We must all add our voices in denouncing such atrocities. Let us do all that we can to protect our mothers, sisters, daughters and friends.

This pervasive problem of violence against our women must be a primary focus of the Government. Women must be provided with the opportunities for employment, education and training, in order to secure their economic and social advancement.