10/24/2008

Increased access to social services a priority among indigenous women

Guyana - Increasing access to social services is among the priorities identified by indigenous women leaders in the region as key to empowerment, against a backdrop of development.

Participants at the `Conference on Indigenous Women in the Caribbean:Voice, Participation and Influence for Development' that opened last Thursday found that many of their problems were the same. These include poverty, limited access to health, education and other basic social services, while trying to secure recognition of traditional land and rights. Another issue is gender-based violence. One of the challenges facing the conference was creating room for women's rights in the context of the collective indigenous rights. The two-day meeting was organized by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs and United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). It attracted across section of government and civil society participants from Belize, Dominica, Guyana, Suriname, Nicaragua and St Vincent.


Read the full story at http://coipnews.blogspot.com/

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