Honourable Ministers,
Distinguished Delegates,
I am extremely gratified and honoured to have been elected as the new President of the Inter-American Commission of Women, CIM. I am humbled and deeply appreciative of the high confidence and trust which you have demonstrated in my candidacy. The decision to serve is always a difficult one especially in organizations which will take one away from the local electorate and the constituents in our national parliaments who elected us.

However, I view this service as a higher calling to the international community to advance and promote equal rights for women not only in Antigua and Barbuda, but everywhere in the Americas. Distinguished delegates are assured that I will devote all of my experience, skills, talents and God-given abilities to serving with distinction and to advancing the objectives of this noble organization.

My election is a vote of confidence for every girl in Antigua and Barbuda and in capitals around the Caribbean region and indeed the hemisphere as a whole - by signaling to them that as women we can achieve. I pledge with humility and sincerity to work arduously at ensuring that the Inter-American Commission of Women continues its Herculean task of achieving all of the goals, ambitions and objectives set for this biennium.

Back in 1928, when the first President of CIM, Doris Stevens and many other feminist leaders championed the notion of Pan Americanism and fought for a voice in both plenary and public sessions; most of us in this room were not yet living. It was the first official intergovernmental organization created with the expressed and specific aim to champion women's civil and political rights. Back then, the main objective of the Commission was to secure recognition of political rights for all women of the Americas. Some 78 years later women from across the length and breadth of Latin America and the Caribbean now have political rights. They can vote and they can run for the highest offices in government. However, while we celebrate the instrumentality of CIM's persistence and lobbying efforts; in 2006 we are still grappling with some of the very issues challenged by Stevens in Havana, Cuba.

Women in the OAS are making concerted efforts to increase their representation in Parliament. According to the IPU in 1996, no country reported achieving a critical mass or 30% of women in Parliament. By January 2000, seven countries had achieved 20-30% of women in Parliament. We have just witnessed in one of the world's oldest democracies the first woman to serve as House Speaker and we applaud and commend Nancy Pelosi and the United States government for this significant achievement.

Even though we have made significant strides in women's representation, there is still discrimination against women where these rights are concerned. In yesterday's opening ceremony, our distinguished Secretary General Dr. Jose Insulza, made the poignant comment that democracy without gender equity is half-baked democracy. I daresay that since women make up more than half of the world population, that democracy without gender equity is not yet in the oven.

We must be ever watchful, mindful and committed to the objectives and functions set out by this Commission to work assiduously until all those rights are fully and completely recognized and realized in every member state of the Organization of American States.

It is up to us the newly elected Executive Committee to work arduously to attain this and to ensure that Article 4 of the Belem do Para Convention is upheld. Article 4 states in part that: "Every woman has the right…… to have equal access to the public service of her country and to take part in the conduct of public affairs, including decision making."

We are aware as a new executive of the financial constraints on the organization but we must seek to obtain additional resources to augment our work and enable us to adequately support our member states in their activities.

Distinguished delegates,
This honour bestowed on me today is one which I claim not only for my country Antigua and Barbuda but for the entire Caribbean region and particularly the 14 states which make up the economic and political grouping called CARICOM. Since 1967 with the attainment of political independence each of the Caribbean islands has become members of the OAS and CIM. When Guyana and Belize joined the OAS in 1990, all the independent nations of the Americas were represented in CIM.

Caribbean women have made great strides in political, economic and civic leadership with the most recent accomplishment being the election of the Right Hon. Portia Simpson-Miller to the chairmanship of the Peoples National Party and the Head of government as the first female Prime Minister of Jamaica. Prime Minister Simpson has followed in the footsteps of Dame Eugenia Charles of Dominica and Janet Jagan of Guyana. Caribbean delegates to CIM have played an increasingly important role in CIM; we have always brought to the table of discourse on civil rights, health, equal rights, domestic violence and human trafficking our own peculiar and unique Caribbean perspective on these issues.

As the new President of CIM I hope to engender greater Caribbean perspective and involvement in the discourse and work which emanates from this body. No longer will we in the Caribbean region take a back seat on issues which affect all of us in this region. And I must say that we do hope that much more of these meetings will be hosted and held in the Caribbean region so that our people too can become familiar with the work of CIM and embrace all of its beneficent objectives.

I acknowledge the wealth and depth of research which the Commission has conducted and amassed over the duration and life of this organization on the status of women and their rights in the Americas and I look forward to continue to provide ground-breaking empirical research on these issues which are so critical to us.

The continued education and training of women and girls will be critical to our new executive. We were not born to be second class citizens. Women must now, more than ever, be committed to education and to use it as their passport to building a more secure future for themselves and their families. Tertiary education; high school education; self-education; make the best of whatever is available to us and steer our own ships.

Distinguished Delegates
My own personal leadership style embraces consensus building and a participatory approach and is inclusionary in principle; so this biennium will see those principles as the over-arching and governing approach undertaken and promoted. We have in all our national experiences so much to share and to offer to our colleagues in the Americas. Therefore let us do so in a spirit of fairness, open-ness, frankness, and collaboration but let us do so cordially and amicably, cognizant that we are all working towards the same goal: equity and equality.

It would be remiss of me if I did not single out a few persons whose fortitude, strength of purpose, dedication and hard work contributed to my successful election today. Firstly my staff at the Directorate of Gender Affairs, Director Sheila Roseau, Project Officer Lebrechtta Hesse, my Executive Assistant, Dotsie Isaac Gellizeau who have all been towers of strength and support throughout; also my staff at the Ministry of Labour Headquarters, and last but by no means least OAS Ambassador, Her Excellency Debra-Mae Lovell and her hard working staff at the Mission who worked unstintingly and untiringly lobbying, organizing and strategizing. You have all done a great job and this honour is yours also.

To all of the delegates, particularly my CARICOM sisters and brothers and by extension their governments for your support and belief in me; I extend sincerest and heartfelt appreciation to you. We have a lot of work ahead and I know you will all be there to continue supporting, encouraging and working at our common goals.

I would also like to express sincere thanks and appreciation to my government, particularly Prime Minister, Hon. Baldwin Spencer and the Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda for their unwavering support for my candidacy. This is the very first time in the history of CIM that Antigua and Barbuda will sit on the Executive of CIM and I wish to convey warm greetings and highest regards of Prime Minister Spencer and the government and people of Antigua and Barbuda for a successful and fruitful Assembly.

A lot of what we are able to do in the Caribbean is strongly facilitated by UN agencies, in particular UNIFEM and UNFPA who have supported our efforts here today. I must thank these two organizations who have supported and augmented the work of gender equity in the CARICOM region.

Distinguished Delegates,
A review of the critical areas indicates across the board achievements for women. For example, increased attention in the area of poverty. In this regard, the feminization of poverty is a significant problem for some countries. The absence of economic opportunities and autonomy contribute directly to women's poverty. The Millennium Declaration directs us towards the urgent need for holistic and integrated approaches to poverty reduction.

Other concerns critical to us as an organization include promoting gender equality, combating HIV/AIDS and developing a global partnership for development. Programmes and policies designed to tackle all aspects of women's health including the HIV/AIDS pandemic have taken their toll on women's progress and aspirations.

Distinguished delegates,
Violence against women is widely recognized today as a scourge, which must be combated. Awareness programmes and support services have been put in place at national and international levels but these are not enough without the proper legal frameworks. Over this next biennium we will continue to work at the implementation of the Belem de Para Convention; and to encourage those countries that have not ratified to do so.

As a new executive, we in CIM will encourage member states to enact legislation where they do not exist and encourage enforcement where they do not exist.

Distinguished Delegates,
Over the next two years we have a range of very important issues which are quintessential to advancing our agenda. As leaders in our national parliaments and public service, I wish to reiterate the importance of gender mainstreaming efforts in our individual countries. The responsibility for gender mainstreaming and implementation of the very comprehensive and ambitious programs of CIM should not and cannot be left solely to the CIM; these mainstreaming efforts will only be successful with the active engagement of the partners and member states and the deep and abiding commitment of the OAS as an institution. We as a new executive are cognizant of the high standards set by previous Presidents and executives of this organization and at this juncture I wish to pay tribute to the outgoing President, Nilcea Freire for her dedication, commitment and energy over her term in office. We will continue to build and strengthen the foundation she has laid and continue to leave a lasting legacy for women across the Americas.

Honourable Ministers, Distinguished Delegates,
In closing, allow me to reaffirm my government's commitment to the goals of the Inter-American Commission of Women to once again thank you for reposing your confidence in my Presidency. I conclude by reminding us all that it is our duty here at the 33rd General Assembly to voice, reiterate and secure those interests, basic human rights and freedoms.

Let this be a term of truly decisive action, full participation and resolve to mark a period of visible change for women in the Caribbean and the Americas.

I Thank You.