Rather it is to make a claim for women as equal partners, Coordinator of the Network for the Advancement of Women in Trinidad and Tobago, Ms Hazel Brown told a press conference at the end of their three-day meeting here last Friday.

Speaking at Cara Inn, in Pere Street, Kitty, Georgetown, she observed that, in some quarters, there is a big hue and cry coming from men about the issue.

Brown said they have heard such comments as “Women want to take over”, “The army is coming” and even “We women are too ‘nuff’.”

But she stressed that men need not fear.

“We don’t want to take over anybody’s role. We are just seeking to make a claim for ourselves as equal partners in development in the Region,” Brown reiterated.

She said it must be recognized that, for the longest while, women have been on the margin of public decision-making and, so, the whole question of women taking over is neither desirable nor planned.

Brown emphasized that it is not a time for separatism but unification and added:” I think that our brethren must recognize the role women have played traditionally, even when we were operating in the private sphere, in terms of keeping the household, though we were voiceless, we kept there so our male folk could operate in the public sphere.”

However, on behalf of the Regional Steering Committee of Women, she expressed gratitude to those who were indeed supportive of the ‘Fifty/Fifty Women’s Political Participation’ initiative.

Brown acknowledged the support of many men who are also influencing their friends to do likewise.

“It has now become an accepted value, especially among men in influential circles, that it is something that is okay,” she stated.

Founder Member of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition, Ms Annie Campbell, who was among the leading speakers at the just concluded caucus, attested to the positive reaction from male counterparts in her country.

She recalled that, when her organization was formed, they set out to be involved in the national peace talks and won backing from many of the men.

“We’ve had lots of men who were very supportive and wanted us and that is because they recognized that women have a very different set of skills, different concerns and a kind of solutions-focused approach,” Campbell explained.

The women’s rights advocate confessed that a lot of men showed they appreciated the need for women’s participation and recognized that it was “completely and utterly unjust” to have a situation in which there were no women.

Campbell reported that, happily, the coalition did achieve what it set out to but cautioned that, though some are appreciative, all men will not necessarily be thinking alike.

She said women entering the political sphere would have to be prepared for some eruptions of what used to be called dinosaur-like behaviour.

Campbell, too, concluded that they had a “wonderful conference”and representatives of sister countries in the Caribbean highly praised the United States-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) Office in Guyana for hosting the delegates.

Ms Jessica Odle, of Barbados National Organisation of Women, said they all should give “tremendous credit” to the NDI but pointed out that, had Guyana not initiated the move, “none of this coming together here would have happened.”

She forecast a continuum in the local NDI programme for educating women.

Odle declared that the drive in Guyana stands “head and shoulders above” others and said she looks forward to the time when the scheme will spread across the Caribbean.

She admitted that the Guyanese are doing “a tremendous job” and must be given full credit and encouragement, particularly because they organised the large assembly with the assistance of Guyana Association of Women Lawyers (GAWL) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Odle said the investment, which brought together 130 persons from countries of the Region, was money well spent, because, at the end of the day, all would benefit from the outcomes.

She disclosed that, to date, Guyana has trained 300 women in leadership and negotiation as well as to understand local government, all critically needed skills, particularly at a time when issues of conflict exist in different parts of the world and the art of negotiating is very important.

Odle said the conference participants were certainly fortified, excited and passionate about the ‘fifty-fifty’ idea and concept, in terms of decision-making in national and regional parliaments.

A steering committee has been set up to look into identified weaknesses, which need to be strengthened, and, hopefully, a task force would emerge to deal specifically with the notion of ‘Fifty/Fifty Women’s Political Participation’.

The committee, headed by Jamaica, met once during the conference and will communicate through the Internet, over the next couple of weeks, looking at some of the obstacles still confronting Caribbean women, Odle said.

Immediate Past President of GAWL, Ms Roxanne George outlined her group’s aims as “really trying to get women into decision-making and let them understand they have rights, human rights and, if they get into decision-making positions, their concerns could be better addressed and they can be part of the solutions, in terms of addressing those concerns and problems.”

She said GAWL co-hosted the event, mainly because, over the last two years, it has been taking part, in very practical ways, in the constitutional reform process.

George said GAWL championed the cause in the reform to make it compulsory for one-third of the nominees on the National Candidates List to be women.