Archive: This document was published as a Press Release on 28th January 2022.
The Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWiL) congratulates Prime Minister,
The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, Q.C., M.P., on her recent national election win. As Prime Minister Mottley embarks upon her second consecutive term in office, she has reiterated her government’s readiness to fulfil the mandate entrusted to them by the Barbadian people, and their commitment to tackling present and anticipated challenges while working towards meeting aspirations of sustainable development.
Ostensibly, the rallying cries are not very dissimilar to those heard across many other Caribbean countries. What does, however, distinguish Barbados, is the foundational ethic which discernibly drives the principal woman herself and which consequently permeates her government’s policies and processes. It is an ethic which CIWiL recognises as transformational leadership – an approach whereby one’s power, resources and skills are used responsibly within democratic, cooperative,
inclusive structures to advance a vision of gender equality, social justice, and human rights for all. Within the past year alone – from UNGA 76 to COP26 to the handling of the COVID-19 crisis and Barbados’ transition to a Republic – Prime Minister Mottley’s focus on improving equity, wellbeing and quality of life and her propensity for building alliances on every front, leaves no doubts about her leadership.
Prime Minister Mottley’s people-centredness is core to the distinctiveness of her transformational leadership which benefits all of society. It is consistent with the broader, mounting recognition that women as a whole make essential contributions to achieving and maintaining peaceful and secure communities, the full realisation of human rights, the eradication of disease, hunger and poverty, and the promotion of sustainable development (UN 2018). CIWiL’s congratulations to Prime Minister
Mottley are thus accompanied by a confidence in her capacity for good governance, based on the transformational leadership she embodies.
We urge leaders in Parliament to live up to the call of transformational leadership by working collectively, despite their differences, to uphold the common principles of gender equality and human rights both in their service to country and within political structures. This includes acting to remove barriers to women’s leadership and uplift fellow aspiring sisters in politics. This will enable us to reach the critical mass required to effect economic, political, and social transformation in our
wider Caribbean societies. As a non-partisan NGO established to support this very cause, CIWiL continues to offer our partnership to all Caribbean organisations, institutions and individuals with a shared transformational vision.
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About CIWiL: Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWiL) is a non-partisan network of women in politics and leadership
in the Caribbean. The organisation functions as an independent non-governmental organization established to
monitor and strengthen the work of increasing women’s political participation and leadership in private, public and
community-based organizations in the region through advocacy, networking, research and capacity building.
Contact: For more information, please contact, CIWiL at info@ciwil.org or at 1-868-345-9153.