 We begin our celebrations this morning with some welcome remarks from Honourable Dr. Gail T.C. Rigobot who is the Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development and the Minister for UNESCO Affairs. I want to begin by thanking the former director of Gender Relations, Ms. Shams Kasper, for her energy, her confidence, her faith and for seeing this project through to successful completion. I thank you very, very heartily for that. I was reflecting on my way here and I wondered how does a little girl decide to enter politics because perhaps for many of us being celebrated here today, that dream was long implanted in our souls. I know that is my story and I look at many, sir, I recall our years in Trinidad for example while I served as president of the Sinusha Student Association of Trinidad and Tobago, Lucette and you were one of my vice presidents while at CUC it was and I wondered if for you too as a young female leader you had began to contemplate your own. I remember Alison Gojada in her days at the St. Joseph's Convent School and her private reflections and public confessions about her own ambitions, about participating in our politics and I can go around the room and from woman to woman I see persons who are imbued with a particular kind of courage, a particular kind of strength because we cannot deny that we are indeed playing in a male dominated field and that is politics. But I beg to ask the question, is this really a male dominated field or is it that women hesitate to present themselves for elective politics for all the unsavory reasons that are now floating through our heads? Can we, the current crop of female politicians, do more to change that? Do more to encourage little girls who like ourselves are harboring or like we once did are harboring the dream of becoming a politician, are harboring the dream of making a significant contribution to the social and economic development of this country? I recall in 2011 when three women were called upon to contest elections in Mekunov, I remember that conversation we had with Osteena, Janine and I and we reckoned is this not a turning point in the history of St. Lucia that three women can contest an election without necessarily going at one another's throats and I see Miss Hiberlith nodding and I recall the conversations I had with her in the corridors. You see we've got to recognize that politics as is often described as a theater of politics there's a time and a place for everything but we must never forget that the gaze, the national gaze is on us always more so than the men for some curious reasons which I don't quite understand but our stride is under scrutiny what we wear is under scrutiny how we speak is under scrutiny what we do is under scrutiny what we fail to do is also under scrutiny and I dare say more so than for our male counterparts I want to applaud all of you all of the sisters here gathered I recall two years ago when I reflected on the celebration of International Women's Day and I lamented the fact that there is no sisterhood we should never allow partisan politics to interfere with our sisterhood I recall as a child looking at a young Sarah flood you concern about the brotherhood and an honorable leader of the opposition the brotherhood is intact I recall following the honorable Sarah flood very closely when she made her debut and you have the fiery testament gal and and Leon Theodore is not here but when I decided to enter politics I went to her home and I sat in her veranda with her and she asked me a couple questions she said are you married I said no are your parents alive no do you have a partner no she said well none of these things will make a difference and if you did because you are in this alone that's when your head hits the pillow you carry that weight alone but you know what I have discovered that though she is correct in part we are here because we have one another we are here because notwithstanding our party's affiliation we can talk to one another we can engage one another and yes I want to thank you for the private conversations that we've had and for your encouragement and of course I must mention my former dean and now governor general dean Paulette louisie I'm always delighted that she has never threatened me with recollections of my teenage days at Sir Arthur Lewis and I really want to thank you for that but Barbara if I may call you by your first name Yasmin thank you so very much for celebrating the women who have made extraordinary sacrifices to build this nation but please allow me though their faces do not appear in this publication or their names may not be mentioned to applaud the many women on whose shoulders we stand the single mothers the housewives the vendors the women who lead us into rallies who pray for us who encourage us the bare feet women who perhaps aren't running in heels we are able to run in heels because of them I thank you distinguished guests I have the distinct honor on behalf of the inter-american commission of women of the organization of the american states known by spanish acronym sim to convey warm greetings to this august gathering under the esteemed patronage of her excellency dame collette louisie for the launch of the publication running in heels women and politics institution 1961 to 2016 the sim is very pleased to be associated with this noteworthy project and to have collaborated with its sister agency UNESCO and with the division of gender relations in the ministry of education innovation sustainable development and gender relations the sim avails itself of this opportunity to congratulate the distinguished women of st lucer who have made vital varied and valiant contributions to the political development of their country through elective politics and also through their political appointments 10 of these special women who have been in elective politics deserve our highest commendation for their singular achievements in politics a few of which are highlighted we remember the late mrs heraldine rock she was the first woman she was the first woman to hold an executive position as vice chair within a political party in 1964 she was also the first woman to be elected in parliament in st lucer and its first female member of cabinet in 1964 honorable sarah flood bobran the first woman to have won her seat for three times in general elections give it up for her give it up she did it in 1997 she did it in 2001 and she did it again in 2016 and she did so representing each of the main political parties she also woman power is the only candidate to date in st lucer to have ever unseated a sitting prime minister in 1997 i recognize ambassador minister rambali the youngest ever candidate in any election in the commonwealth and who commanded the highest ever female voting average of 68.68 in 1997 honorable dr gail rigabert tc rigabert pardon me the first female leader of the opposition in st lucer in 2014 and the only female politician to date to begin her political career as an opposition member of parliament give it up for her please i'm yes there she is miss alvina reynolds the first politician to have made history in 2011 but the narrowest to win of any candidate in a general election two votes people two votes okay wow if those two people stayed home might have been a different story my sister miss emma hippolett the only female politician to have ever amassed the largest number of votes to be cast in any constituency give it up for five two four two in 2011 she was also the first woman to act as prime minister in st lucer in 2015 my girl miss leila harrick sing the longest ever running female candidate in st lucer who has faced the polls unbrokenly from 1997 to 2011 for four consecutive general elections in every possible political capacity she has been an independent she has been a minority she has been a main party candidate she was even the first female independent candidate my girl moving on although she's not here with us dr morralla joseph the first woman in st lucer to become political leader of a party and to lead it into a general elections in 2001 and what a hard election it was for her please give it up for dr joseph and this one has special significance for me mrs janine compton antoine oddlem compton go girl the first woman to win a by election in 2007 as she took over the seat from her deceased father former prime minister sir john compton and last but my no means least the late mrs francis michelle sister francis as we remember her she was the first woman in st lucer to co-found a party in 1982 the island's inaugural third party was called the plp and the first woman politician to be made a senator in st lucer sister francis as a publication running in heels of first of its kind in st lucer acknowledges the work that has been done in the exercise of women's political rights in st lucer globally women are moving beyond female quarters moving beyond reserve seats for women these things that are considered essential political paraphernalia in complying with a 30 percent threshold for women's representation in political life therefore movement is being advanced globally for a new gender paradigm a new gender paradigm for representative democracy and one which contemplates women's full and effective participation in political life given the persistent exclusion of women from politics and the slow pace of change in recent years states have begun to rethink democracy from the perspective of parity between men and women in political life as a general democratic principle and a strategy aimed at resolving the current deficits of representative democracies simply put the gender metrics of parity call for a 60 40 representation as an uncompromising minimum in political and public life and a crucial step 60 40 in pushing forward for equitable representation until we reach complete parity 50 50 parity to date within the hemisphere the americas five latin american countries bolivia costarica ecuador mexico and nicaragua have adopted parity and are among the countries in the world with the highest number of women parliamentarians over the last decade the sim has strengthened its role as a hemispheric policy forum in the promotion of the political rights of women in the americas in four key areas promotion of parity women's leadership and incidents in public life elimination of violence against women in political life and strengthening the legislative agenda for women's rights much of this work involves formulating inter-american laws on key issues of concern including violence against women in political life which we developed in 2017 next year february 18 2018 the sim will celebrate 90 years of the struggle for the recognition and protection of women's human rights since it played a leading role in the struggle for the equality of women in the hemisphere this 90th anniversary provides an opportunity to take stock of achievements and to identify remaining challenges to the full enjoyment of women's rights similarly this is auspicious launch of running in heels just prior to the sim's 90th anniversary is a great opportunity for simplutia to take stock of women's political incidents at the national level with a view to developing useful strategies to address the gaps in parity at the level of political parties at the level of parliament and within the decision making tier of cabinets having said this running in heels has revealed some interesting data on the situation of women in simplutia and i crave your indulgence to share some of these with you because i'm so honored to be able to present some of the findings here even as we lord the contribution of women to the political development of simplutia 56 years have passed since simplutia witnessed its first ever woman on the ballot mrs rosanna lory donna boss she was the next patriot who ran in denry for the people's progressive party ppp on august 14 1961 she ran against mr morris mason of the slp and secured 39 votes 39 votes or 2.2 percent of the vote ladies it was these 39 votes which began the race in earnest to the house of parliament for women in simplutia so i think we should acknowledge her thank you following this in 1964 mrs heraldine rock became the first woman to defeat a male candidate in simplutia yes 64 in the castry south constituency she was on a uwp ticket in a three-way race against the slb incumbent chief minister honorable george fl charles and former slbga director mr swithin scouting running as an independent mrs rock secured 41.9 percent of the vote and defeated the independent candidate who got 9.9 percent she almost unseated the chief minister 123 votes separated her from winning that seat against the chief minister and if i may get off script she did all of this in seven weeks okay that's a feat 10 years later on a date i will never forget may 7 1974 the same mrs rock would go on to make history when she defeated political opponent mr george oddlam by a narrow margin of 42 votes and she altered irrevocably the political landscape of simplutia this victory ushered in the first ever woman in the lower house of parliament in simplutia and it had taken two years post adult suffrage in 1951 for a woman to get elected let me give you some of the optics through statistics because i'm a statistics buff i don't know many people statistics bore them i get all excited once i see the stats moving so here we go simplutia has witnessed 27 women who have faced an electorate out of out of approximately 551 candidates who have entered into a national poll since adult suffrage the female vote share is cumulatively about 60 000 in total and that represents eight percent of the total votes ever cast in simplutia these 27 women have run primarily against male candidates until women first ran against each other that started in which year can you guess 2001 since then 11 women or 40.7 percent of female candidates have experienced running against another woman contender and this happened let me check your memory i gave you the first one this happened in 2001 when else did it happen 2011 and then 2000 all right you with me now i'm happy to have um janine kompton and dr rigoberthe with us because mikunov has to be highlighted as the most female friendly constituency in recent times since it was the site for an exceptional race in 2001 when an unprecedented three women ran against each other with one male candidate in the minority also contesting mikunov was also the first rural constituency to produce a female parliamentarian in 2007 an interesting factor depending on how you look at it a factoid you know eight percent of male contenders in simplutia have ever contested a general election against a woman eight percent this amounts to 41 men in this special category and afterwards in the book you can see who they are so by and large women have gained their political experience from vying for electoral space primarily against male candidates 62.9 percent of female candidacies have competed against male contenders do you know how many times women have run in st lusia now all right let me tell you women candidates have run 41 times in st lusia guess how many times they won and they have won 10 times the uwp has run a total of come on uwp how many times 13 women on a slate beginning in its founding stages in 1964 let's see if the slp can get it the slp ran its first woman candidate 15 years later in what year 1979 and it has fielded nine female candidacies it must be noted that one female candidate has the distinction of having run in two major political parties and she won and we know who that is of these 27 women who have run only 21.4 percent i repeat 21.4 percent have won their seats which in this case equals six women in all the uwp has won with a woman three times while the slp has won with a woman four times no third party no minority party with a female candidate has ever won an election in st lusia the first splinter party candidate ran in 1982 and the first batch of minority candidates ran in the now defunct national alliance for unity n au in 2001 with an unprecedented three three sorry female candidates on a national poll including st lusia's first mother daughter combo and they would be just interannuously and esterly please give them a hand the majority of minority female candidates from different parties i talk about the national democratic movement the lusian people's movement lusian greens they contested in 2011 and they have not had a repeat showing since then there have been in st lusia two independent female candidates both running what's it with miku both running in the two miku constituencies with the first of these women contesting a general election in 1997 the second has the distinction of having secured the highest ever to date vote share of any female independent and that was in the 30 to 39 percent range and it would be janine compton here with us but in talking about that we have to look at the rate of attrition the rate of attrition for female politicians is alarmingly high in fact women's share of the lower house has never surpassed 16.7 percent it's under 20 percent 16.7 compared with the senate which has appointed women to a height of 36.4 percent maximum representation for female parliamentarians to date four out of seven have been one-term political wonder women and this represents 57.1 percent moving along we have what i have termed the fleeting female candidate syndrome it's very evident in st lusia we're almost 60 percent if you want me to be precise it's 59.2 percent almost 60 percent have only faced the poll for one general election compounding this about a third of female candidates have disappeared all together from the political scene post-election this this has serious implications for not only attracting quality female candidates but also retaining them within the traditional sorry within the i don't know where that word came from within the political process for the medium and the long term let's talk about the women's electoral space as i begin to get down to the other part of my presentation women have lost in how many elections let's see if you can guess eight elections and i'd like to recognize honorable leon theodore john speaker of the house of assembly not that you lost in an election at all but i just noted oh yes you did i forgot yes you did well you're one of these eight okay women have lost in eight electoral districts in st lusia but they have they won once or multiply in five constituencies mostly within the castries base northern northern corridor therefore women have successfully occupied and won about 30 percent of the electoral seats in st lusia from 1974 to 2016 the castries base with its five electoral districts is the most popular area for women to run and it has recorded the most comparative success for women candidates in st lusia now this one is a pet peeve unbelievably about a quarter of the electoral map in st lusia has never seen a female candidate and this male political enclave or this last bastion of male possession stretches contiguously and primarily along the western corridors in lusia you can name them view for south library choiselle souffre girls we got to do some about that we got to do some about that thankfully one woman back in 1979 rest her soul 38 years ago ran in ancillary canneries you remember that miss born teacher born you do remember that ancillary canneries for the slp and that is what broke the male political hegemony of the seemingly impenetrable west coast we got to do some about that we can't let that go man moving along looking at the electoral years after 1960 61 sorry there was a tribe of baron fox for female representation where no woman was on the ballot and honorable leader of the opposition you definitely know about these times not 1969 but you were there in 87 you were there in 92 were you there yes you were there me however after 1992 maybe because of your influence there have been no less than four women on the slate unbrokenly until the present time that deserves a round of applause now within the lower chamber of the house post 1997 thankfully there was only one instance when there was not one female face present as members of parliament i didn't say cabinet i said parliament during the period of course you can guess when that was December 2006 until November 2007 you want to know about the bumper years so what were the bumper years for female candidacies they have been 2001 2011 2016 2001 i consider the outlier year where we made history in st lusia we had a pioneering woman from the uwp and she led a political party into a general elections and simultaneously i get excited about that an unprecedented nine women contested a general election with her party fielding four of these women dr merella joseph and the minority party the nau fielded three of these women 2011 was also an exceptional year where the highest number of women how many come on this we should know 2011 how many women ran 10 10 10 of um 52 member slate and that represents 19.2 percent of female representation female political capital in a general election coming from major parties minor parties independent candidates in fact the entire spectrum for elective politics in st lusia happened for women in 2011 so for those of you who contested then bravo in contrast oh dear and i hate to bring up this year because this is the year when the youngest ever senator in st lusia ran honorable tessa mangal 2006 was the most dismal year for women vying for a seat in the politics of st lusia not one of the four female contenders managed to win a seat so for the first time since 1997 the lower house was decidedly filled with testosterone it was pungent in that house man it was pungent save for the historic appointment of st lusia's first ever female house speaker you gotta know who that is honorable sarah flood fulbran yes within the space of january 2006 to november 2007 you know what happened women power again a female phenomenon occurred for women's leadership and it included the bicameral chamber this was the year of the awesome three some we had a woman governor general dame palette louisie give it up for the day we had a woman as house speaker honorable sarah flood fulbran and hello she's not here with us today but we had a woman as the president of the senate dr rosemary husband's matthew that was a year man 2007 and i'm sure you remember the calypso that was sung by her mother dame lady spice lady spice definitely okay i'm rapping down but let me talk about women in cabinet before i go and this is prior to my conclusion so don't think i'm here for all day okay i have been in cabinet it was shocking to me man only 12 women have sat in cabinet year 12 12 women in the 30 sorry in the 43 years that women have been appointed as ministers of government beginning in 1974 12 women i mean wow that's like jesus and his disciples the 12 okay including two women of non-partisan backgrounds respectively the first female minister of education name please margarita alexander very good and the first female attorney general and minister for legal affairs definitely justice lorraine williams and i excluded the brief stint of one woman in the interim government in 1982 can you guess who she was senator murl combi very good all right you're on top of it did you help me write this book as well man you're on top of your facts um after 1992 at the level of cabinet there has been no gap in female representation win or lose sometimes utilizing the handy mechanism of the senate to effect these necessary ministerial appointments currently under this government an unprecedented four women are serving in cabinet unprecedented that is 25 percent of its composition at the decision making and policy shaping level let's acknowledge that again four women are in cabinet yet even with this national female victory the lucia four is short of the international benchmark of 30 percent that's the critical mass so um kindly work on that a bit yes of women you need 30 percent at least at the decision making level but we have kind of watched that we're taking it further we want 40 we want 30 again 30 is yesterday's news we want 40 as i wrap up within the wider caribbean recently in terms of political developments more women have been populating the political news for instance and i'm sure you heard this within the last three months three countries come to mind and tegan barbeuda the wife of prime minister honorable gaston brown mrs marie bird brown has declared her interest in replacing her uncle national hero former prime minister celeste bird the incumbent in the st john rural east constituency for the antiga labor party if she gets the nod she will contest the seat against two other female candidates including the female senate president miss elincia grant granada mrs kendra maturing steward has expressed an interest in taking over the seat from the outgoing member of parliament honorable elvin nimrod for the constituency of carriacou and pt martinik on behalf of the ruling new national party she will contest against two other males in the runoffs this one you like barbados our very own st lucerne born mrs mara thompson nage rody widow of former prime minister barbados honorable david thompson who replaced her deceased husband in the st john seat in 2011 for the democratic labor party and she won it for the democratic labor party she has decided i'm not seeking reelection in this coming term so you know i have done the caribbean what titbit can i give you from st lucerne let's see and in st lucerne miss emma hippolett of the st lucerne labor party the first woman to ever act as prime minister of st lucerne she also becomes the first woman to have taken a stab at vying for the chair's position in her party one of the most influential gatekeeper roles in any political party while mrs miss hippolett lost to a male contender honorable moses musangia bates ladies she has paved the way for other women to go for the big stakes within their respective party's executive body kindly give her a round of applause i salute your sister in closing on the threshold of the 90th anniversary of the sim it is evident in st lucerne that about five percent is not decent enough representation for women in st lucerne after 56 years of the female political hustle five percent five percent is like being in the basement when the minimum flow for representation at every election should be at least 30 percent and in st lucerne's case we have not even begun to bench press on the benchmark having just under 20 percent of women candidates running in any election as our high water mark it is true that this country can currently boast of having 25 percent female representation in cabinet and that's a commendable calibration but it falls short of the quantum leap to real progress to create real change i repeat it falls short of the quantum leap to real progress to create real change let me also acknowledge the presence of um your excellency guy mares high commissioner of st lucerne to the united kingdom thank you for being here we met on the beach this morning he was taking his jog and i was taking in some some sand okay on behalf of the sim i wish to strongly encourage st lucerne to become the first in the americas from the caribbean to adopt legislation aimed at 60 40 parity minister that's your task not 70 30 not 60 40 we want not 80 20 sorry so not 70 30 not 80 20 but 60 40 all the way and across the board can you say that with me 60 40 all the way and across the board 60 40 that should become the country's new acceptable bottom line 60 40 throughout public life 60 40 st lucerne has the opportunity to correct the lapses and infelicities in its female representation and to be at the vanguard of caribbean countries in advancing women's political rights let the launch of running in heels on this day tuesday november 28 2017 be the starting point in the race for parity 60 40 for women in politics in this country i thank you i'm really really thrilled that we seen this happening today my job is just to give you a little background and um the concept of the project was actually born out of the need first of all to recognize the remarkable contributions of st lucerne women at all levels of the democratic political process from grassroots party food soldiers to elected or appointed members of the country's legislature while we continue to celebrate one of our first female politicians parliamentarians and government minister the late mrs heraldine rock and the several other women who have bravely followed in her footsteps we are mindful that women are still grossly underrepresented in elective politics at the highest levels of political leadership even though they outnumber their male counterparts at all other levels in the political parties we can no longer remain silent or continue to work quietly in the background as social and economic issues such as crime violence unemployment underemployment etc continue to negatively impact our lives and our future women's voices must be heard at the level where it matters most where we can articulate and make decisions on these and other such issues if we wish to have any semblance of sustainable human development in our country the region and the world promoting the empowerment of women through political participation is key to achieving a more equitable distribution of power and resources in any society despite the advances made by women in the political arena in recent times and we had that history and you'll read a little more about this in the book we all know the challenges they face as they continue to remain grossly underrepresented with only 16 percent of elected members of parliament around the world as women we are all aware of the institutional barriers discriminatory attitudes religious social norms the disproportionate responsibilities for child and family care that make it extremely difficult for women to have greater parity in political representation and leadership roles and so the purpose of the project was to document document the contributions of this note these notable solution women but most importantly it is intended to encourage more women in particular young women to get involved at the highest level of political decision making in St Lucia the project included research for the material and that builds you know somewhat on some information that was already available at the division of gender relations the documentation of the information and the printing of the publication after careful consideration a selection committee unanimously agreed on the firm of right angle imaging Barbara Jacob Small to undertake the project Barbara later teamed up with Ms Yasmin Audlam a phenomenal door you know to create this exceptional publication which we are launching today the project would not have been possible without the financial and technical support of the National Commission for UNESCO I wish to acknowledge Ms. Marcy Synthorian-Laurel Ms Caroline O'Geese Mrs. Yolanda Michelle Burton and the office team who also provided oversight for the accuracy of the information and the timely completion of the project which we all which all of us who have been involved in the process have agreed that the outcome that the outcome has far far exceeded our expectations I would also like to take this opportunity to thank most profoundly all the women who themselves provided the information as well as those who made information available on and anyone else who contributed in any other way to the successful completion of this project the those of you here some of you here will be presented with copies of the book today the book is available for sale the pros and it's not only available in it's all it'll also be available online so you have access to the book the proceeds of the the book will go towards the support of the women towards the women support center that's our only shelter for women who are victims of domestic violence in San Lucia so we will have water thanks later but let me just thank everyone who made today possible and we really look forward to your support this is Christmas time so that's a good gift to give so let us see the sales coming on I thank you all it's extremely gratifying to be entrusted with an important work and to find that even the universe agrees that you are the right team for it from the get go I felt that the story on women in elective politics could never be complete being restricted to the bid for the ballot because I've always known that women are the cornerstone of partisan politics and electioneering he has been tends to be my woodsmith and my pocket poet and it's typical for me to pick her brain when I want a novel twist on words and something with imagery the truth is that when I called on her for a name I had no idea that she was sitting on a treasure trove of statistics and dates and stories and was also equipped with both local the local and the global context to give the work some weight from both a sort of you know historical perspective and from an academic standpoint in 2015 I had begun to collect information on women in politics in the Caribbean as part of my job as the Caribbean specialist for gender at the inter-american commission of women of the organization of American states I was doing this with a view to designing a project along those lines since this was a new portfolio on which I was embarking women in politics I started with St Lucia because it was the island with which I was the most familiar and with the electoral statistics more easily available and accessible to me so Lucia seemed a very logical choice when I collected the statistics and made some analysis of them preliminarily I then approached Mishams Gaspard director of department of gender relations to approach her minister where we would both do some sort of presentation on women and politics for international women's day 2016 I had also approached the minister in this regard prior and both were very interested however at the time it was not feasible for this to have been brought to pass so that idea was temporarily shelved and another program took its place for international women's day in December 2016 I'm still working on women in politics in the Caribbean and I'm looking at other territories when I received a call from Barbara Jacobs small in St Lucia asking me for assistance on a new project with which she was working she started yes I still remember her husky voice appeal coming through with urgency I need a title for a book on women and politics by yesterday any suggestions typical Barb's she just gets right to the point with an immediacy that is compelling at the time I was deeply mined in domestic chores so I told me to give me a night to think about it and as soon as I got off the phone with Barbara after she had explained what the project was about I felt that unmistakable moment of destiny vibrating through my being it was just a palpable energy and I knew uh-huh the moment had come a moment of coincidence of synchronicity that I had to sort of capitalize on in this moment and in that moment the title came the title that came to me was running uphill in heels well I shared it with Barbara and she loved the title with a slight adjustment of course delete uphill this synchronicity was too powerful for me so I told Barbara that I had been doing research on this topic for the last two or so years and I would love to assist with the project of course with clearance from the inter-american commission of women and the department of gender relations so here we are delivering the definitive story of the female dimension of our political journey from 1961 to today and thus began this incredible journey of collaboration between sim which is the commission's acronym in Spanish the department of gender relations and UNESCO with all approvals in place I began to write feverishly from January 3rd 2017 to March 31st 2017 for hours and hours a day even on weekends while Barbara and St Lucia was busy collecting collating and scribing research on the women's biographies and also sourcing archival material that she could pass on to me that I could use in the writing of the book in the process of doing research my sense of how unsung women and their perspective of this journey is would be proven as I spoke with so many different ladies over the phone face to face on our long whats-up conversations some at first light some at high noon and some late at night and a good few via email interview if there is such a thing we had many many many exchanges by telephone many exchanges of drafts many exchanges of points of view many disagreements and many agreements it was just an electric process a very magnetic moment as we tried very much to meet our deadline of March first clearly we did not meet our deadline but by March 31st everything was ready in some form to be sent on to graphics some decades later still ambivalent on the well documenting the facts as they unfolded for the historical account or because they struggle with what may be prudent to divulge do they let bygones be bygones or do they err on the side of caution especially for those who still have to navigate party affiliations and loyalties today but in reading between the lines of their caution I realize how little power is really in the hands of women in politics even today some women are particularly memorable for the obvious passion and commitment they still have for what was as much their life's work as the profession that actually paid their bills you need some women like mrs. Gautre George who never run a seat but who was part of the marrow of the backbone of old uwp who could recount perhaps forgotten aspects of the party's history the players the tensions the anecdotes this book could never really be complete without the perspective of the lens of her memory and the memory of other women like her people like you know shillie louis and who we don't really treat within the book but there are so many other women finally i got a renewed sense of the value of documentation and the significance of our historical archive so shout out to sannusha national archives authority and mrs. mago thomas and her team because more often than not as i combed through old records and newspapers i made discoveries that either gave powerful witness to the narrative that was unfolding as jasmine wove those stories together and then there were those which begged a new a rewrite of a chapter because they gave a new perspective that we perhaps did not have or we had overlooked coming to mind is an open letter to lori voss written to the editor at the time for example i love the newspaper caption the defiant ones that one stands out for me the defiant ones with the newspaper caption that accompanied a photo of mrs sarah flood borough mrs petra jeffrey nelson and mrs desa mangal and being a non-conformist myself that one gave me some moments of move for me this was a call to duty that i could not shirk and i saw the project in grand terms in fact i saw the project in such a way that it incurred a champagne cost on a very morbid budget as barbara always reminded me however somehow we both had the faith that this would work that this needed to be done and it needed to be done properly and it needed to be done in the most magnificent way possible and here we are today barbara and i have created a piece of history in documenting the lives of the women who have been part of the political landscape of st lucia and not only have we done so to the best of our ability but each and every woman or for those who have passed on each and every family member has been so cooperative in bringing this project together that we knew that it was nothing short of an act of faith something divinely ordained and a moment that was ready to be born so it has indeed been as much an honor for me as it has been an education to all the girls this is in celebration this is praise this is in defense of every woman this is you thinking and this is me talking this is us supporting a woman generation this is a woman thing this is a girl thing this for the mothers and this is for the grandmothers this is for everyone who dares to be a woman well to tell you the truth being a woman just ain't easy to reach a man you have to put words in another man's mouth to speak to the man you're trying to reach because sometimes he don't listen to anybody else but the brothers and all that chuppateness about women balancing home and work and everything in between is out of balance because it don't have no equilibrium because you always always leaning to one side of life while your mind tugging you to go in a direction that no woman has gone before and on top of all of that on top of knowing your place and submitting to your man and bumping your head against the ceiling they say it's glass only because they end feel the hard bump you get when you knock your own head and get to find out is not glass but a new millennium material that made of iron but look like glass on top of all of that woman giving you more trouble because you is a woman you don't know what i mean maybe maybe you don't realize two mother crab can't occupy the same universe is why your colleagues at work don't really talk to you but that's funny and that don't make much sense because the women just like you talking to every other mother crab in the same small universal space so you're thinking it has to be something that you do why they don't like you and women yes women just like you will want to cut you down just because you like them trying to define yourself and they want to tell you how to dress and why you don't look good today and they think highly of themselves i tell you to think that they laughter and opinions on your style and your hair and your shoes mean a thing as if in the little universe you're trying to set up for yourself they mean more than they're supposed to so this is for all the girls who dare to be different who step out in bright yellow like a blazing sun when all the world is in copper it's blue this is for all the girls who don't care about the status quota and fling another dimension in the face of what it means to be a woman this is for all the women who they say have too much style the stockings women and the made up women and the women with the accents and long nails who make up who make all the other plain jeans feel like less than a dollar even though they themselves don't even have a scent and this is for all the girls who make the world stand at attention with the swing of the hips and the appeal of the grants this is for those women who make other girls hold on tightly to their men not because they want them or even try to get them but because they shine too brightly not to be noticed by every single one of them but this is for all the girls who are loyal to the sisters who want to betray them with their men or this them without reason this is for all the girls who see men as colleagues not just lovers and who run shoulder to shoulder with the eagles and the tigers but being a woman is a strange strange thing all that power and yet no real authority because it have no unity in the camp and the only time you have real sisters is when you have a tragedy for all the world to see they come like ants on a sugar hill to take a tasty morsel of the story to satisfy their hope that you ain't as good as people say you are but the moment you back up again the moment you begin to blaze they walk out of both the eyes when they see you come in cross the road instead of saying good morning because they comparing themselves to you and you coming out on top and they can't handle that what is wrong with woman and they hoping and they praying something will happen to make you lose your mind and they hoping and they praying your man will leave you and your business will bust and you will be embarrassed but they don't know in the long journey of your life them things that happen already is why and how is by the grace of god you surviving today they don't know if they can walk in your size 10 wide with shoes but they jealous for them all the same so this is for all the girls who make things happen who aren't afraid to fall for the rush of the comeback this is for all the girls who know the pain of a vision the grind of the challenge and the price of the fight this is for all the girls who'd rather read than do dishes who'd rather write and create than skin chicken and fry fishes this is for the girls who run hot and sweaty with ideas and whose hair wouldn't stay in place while they chase their dreams this is for the girls who share themselves with the world every part of themselves except their very soul this is for the girls who redefine womanhood into something vast and encompassing all shades of their personhood but to be a woman you have to make a choice in your head first and then get your heart and your body to follow is what you want to go make you decide how you go move is what you want the ring and the husband the family your degrees your career an international affair is either you make a choice to partner with a man or to run your whole show yourself and don't leave no place for this compromise stupidness where it fall it fall when he come he come if he come he come and you're okay if you want it all you have to learn to play the game and toe the line you have to choose which battles to fight and learn when to just sit tight so it's either you're going to be a man's woman or a woman onto yourself and when you make that choice you have to stick with it and leave every other option for another life where it would have no god and no family and no society to remind you so this is for all the girls who straddle pretty skirts and loose pants sexy heels and ballet flats flowing tresses and quick one-plats chic acrylics and laptop digits this is for the girls who struggle with their choice who wants their husband in their bed and their degree above their head this is for the girls who appreciate their men who make them feel loved and wanted though they're strong and independent this is for the other kind of girls who go it alone who chart their own costs and buy their own home this is for the girls whose minds can't be tamed by any man or woman who question every norm and break every tradition this is for the girls i'd like to call on miss charms gasper back to the stage please form a director of gender relations to make our first three presentations and our first presentation is to none other than her excellency dame calliope pellet louisie governor general of st lusia a self of course an icon in education governance and culture our second presentation to honorable dr gale tc rigovatt minister of education innovation gender relations sustainable development and minister for unesco affairs get well soon madam minister miss marcia symforian secretary general national commission for unesco represented today by caroline august officer in charge of the national commission thank you very much miss gasper thank you very much and i would now one more you do have one more certainly to honorable philip j pair leader of the opposition my apologies mr pier thank you at this time we will present copies of the publication to the future women and as he has been indicated earlier on there's so many notable mentions and they stand out they're really important for the history and so i'd like to call on her excellency to present to assist us in handing out these copies as we also acknowledge some significant contributions special mention of political pioneers do we have any representative of honorable marie grace ogis in the house no i suspect not but she is the first woman to be nominated to the legislative chamber as an unofficial member in 1952 first female director of the coconut groves association sugar manufacturers association the copper manufacturing limited and the agricultural credit fund she was the first president of the st lusia women's association and in that time that was a very significant accomplishment we also recognize mr heraldine rock uh i don't think we have any relatives here this morning i think i think she declined but um i think jasmine gave you her stats first woman to hold a position in a political party elected as vice president chair of the uwp in 1964 first woman to win a seat in a general election then became become a member parliament as the minister for housing community development local government and social affairs in 1974 she was the first woman to be invited to serve in the cabinet of ministers in also in 1974 and we have mrs francis michelle is her son here benoit we have a representative of mrs francis michelle i see he didn't make it first female trade union leader and then elected president of the farmers and farm workers union in 1976 only female politician to run into distinct constituencies and for two different political parties 1979 and 1982 first female politician to be a socialist and to march in protest against the policies of the government of the day in relation to agricultural workers rights first woman to be a founding member of a political party 1982 first woman treasurer and secretary general of a secretary i'm sorry of a political party in 1982 and first female general consulates in usha station in havana cuba 2000 and now we recognize we hand out certificates of achievement prepared well by sim on behalf of the division of gender relations to be handed out to mrs daphne marie oldest living female politician at 88 first female treasurer 1982 an assistant secretary of the slp 1980 i think her excellency would like to be gracious and and go to her yes let's stand and recognize our oldest living female politician mrs sarah flood bobar honorable sarah flood bobar first ever politician to unseat a sitting prime minister in 1997 first female to win a seat for two rival political parties only female politician to win in three general elections most successful female politician in electoral wins first female speak of the house of representatives 2007 first woman to enter a challenge for the political leadership of a party 2015 first female to have responsibility for the minister of external affairs 2016 honorable sarah flood bobar just like to notify all the recipients of certificates we do have uh envelopes for you i didn't want to roll them up with ribbon that just makes you forget them in a draw uh ambassador minister rambali youngest ever politician in the english-speaking commonwealth elected at age 21 1997 youngest politician in contemporary caribbean politics to hold full ministerial office in the ministry of tourism and civil aviation in 2000 first female ambassador of st lucid to the united nations in 2012 first female politician to have attained almost 70 percent of the vote in her constituency 1997 first woman to have achieved an unbroken nine years in government with six in cabinet as a minister in between 1997 and 2006 mrs liliah harrick saying first female independent candidate 1997 and first female to run in a minority party na u in 2000 only female to have run in four consecutive general elections between 1997 2011 and has been affiliated with three political parties uwp na u and slp or less female candidate who have ever contested in a national poll in 2000 the youthful mrs liliah harrick saying youthful in physique and in attitude and in mentality a wonderful woman dr. morelle joseph is not with us this morning she called in her apologies she developed a back a back problem just this morning but she was really looking forward to being here and she kept checking on us during the progress of the publication first woman to lead a political party uwp in st lucid also to lead a party into a general election in 2000 first female deputy political leader of a political party uwp in 1999 introduced the inaugural highest number of women candidates ever to contest a general election for in 2011 first female co-chair of the experimental national alliance of opposition political parties and deputy political leader of the national alliance october 2001 let me now call miss alvina reynolds first woman to win a seat in her own right after replacing a male incumbent in 2011 had the nearest political victory for a female candidate when she won by two votes in 2011 and the minister i believe under which this this movement towards i'm getting this a project of the ground i'm really began began in in earnest miss emma hippal it miss emma hippal it has spoiled the highest number of votes for a female candidate five four two five four four five two four two five thousand two hundred and forty two poll in 2011 first woman to act as prime minister of st lucid in 2015 first woman to lead the government audit department in the commonwealth of nations uh and who and who was a legend in that regard mrs janine come tenant one first woman politician to have won a seat in a rural constituency 2007 first woman to have taken over the seat of her father and also to win in a by-election making her the first woman to enter parliament as a result of a by-election in 2007 the highest polling female independent candidate one thousand two hundred and ninety three votes lost by three hundred and forty votes in 2011 first female commissioner to chair the international wheeling commission i wc on behalf of st lucid in 2012 afterwards she was elected to chair the i wc sub wheeling committee only candidate to have drawn up a pre-election contract with constituents to empower them to remove her from for non-performance in 2016 honorable dr gail rigorbert first female politician to begin her political life as an opposition member of parliament in 2011 first woman politician to be elected as deputy political leader of a party uwp and then to win twice 2013 and 2015 among her male contenders first female to be appointed as the leader of the parliament of the parliamentary opposition in 2014 special category non-political honorees justice lorraine williams first female attorney general and minister for legal affairs in 1992 as the first female minister with responsibility for women's affairs passed through a suite of important legislation in civil matters to protect women and their families from domestic violence and for maintenance of their children domestic violence act of 1994 an attachment of earnings act 1994 and established the family court in st lucid in 1995 first oasis national to be elected as president of the inter-american commission of women in 1996 first female oasis high commissioner to canada 2006 she's represented by her father mr. nasalba husbands noteworthy female landmarks in the political life of st lucid mrs. felicia brown first female deputy chair of a minority party 2010 but she's not here with us we she's in barbados i believe she also just had a baby mrs. melanie fritz first female to run solely on an environmental platform in 2011 i believe melanie is here this morning our next notable mention is not with us this morning is mary francis first female secretary of a political party 1992 first st lucid female registrar of the high court 1983 to 1989 mrs. charlotte tessa mangal youngest female senator in st lucid 22 in 1997 first woman to be appointed as a senator in two rival parties slp 1997 uwp 2006 first female to be appointed as the minister for commerce industry and consumer phase 2009 mr. bell snack is not with us this morning she's represented by her sister first female politician to successfully seek redress through the court system on a party mat matter in 2006 it's very important for the history dr. rose mary husband's math rare represented by her father mr. natal but husbands this morning she's out of state first woman to hold the top leadership positions in the bicarbonate chambers of parliament elected as first female president of the senate in 2007 and then was elected speak of the house of representatives in 2008 she's represented by her daughter mrs. spectra jeffrey nelson founding member and executive member of a feminist NGO raise your voice st lucid which champions the revolutionary policy changes necessary to achieve gender parity in st lucid senator fortuna bell rose face first female youth and sports officer within the ministry of community development shows social affairs youth and sports in 1981 to 1987 and subsequently extensive years working with youth and sports in at the public service level and president of the st lucid olympic committee first female president of the st lucid olympic committee senator mary isak first female price control and supply officer in st lucid who then presided over the move from price control and supply to consumer fares first female president of the st lucid civil service association which is the largest public sector trade union in st lucid 2009 to 2014 mrs. margarita alexander is not with us this morning is anybody representing her no first female leader of government business in the senate 1982 to 1985 dr. shaman gardener first woman as deputy president of the senate to deputize for the president of the senate 1987 1992 and 1992 to 1997 and longest serving woman senator 10 years from 1987 dame loren slora first female parliamentary commissioner ombudsman in the english-speaking caribbean 1996 yes let us let us stand let us honor her with our regards this morning highest regards two names an honorable leon theodore john first woman politician to have presided over both chambers of the bicameral parliament 2010 and 2016 and current speaker of the house of assembly and we want to call the other featured ladies mrs. mary skelly is a representative for mrs. mary polius here we did receive her apologies dr. alison gajada when she walked in i asked if she got the memo for the color scheme mrs. gail philip jowair is is their representative for the late lady marylyn floesack not today miss austin yes we do okay from the chambers of floesack and fleming miss austina funnis the center annios lee do we have a representative for miss monica case lee yes we do miss nigel twosack representative mrs. nancy charles no representative mrs. agasa japanel mrs. gertrude george and i almost feel i should ask everyone to stand and recognize mrs. gertrude george who's here who stands i believe representing as the honorable minister describe them as some of the barefoot women and some of those who lead people lead candidates into elections down the campaign trail praying for them burying them up keeping the fort the women who are still at work even after the candidates have gone home from the from the campaigning they still at the office burning the lights the women who leave their own light bills unpaid at home to pay the light bill at the constituency office so when we stand to recognize how we stand and we acknowledge all these women thank you miss andrea born some of the ladies behind the scenes giving yeoman service to political parties for decades and decades and decades and we really could not have recognized everyone and i think our final person is mrs. indy made a goal is not here she's passed on and she's not represented here so i make a pardon okay oh yes all right we'll ask mr. buffalo oddlam to accept on behalf of cindy made a goal women behind the scenes and i think that's it thank you very much for your service your excellency thank you so very much i hand you back to the master of ceremonies we have some further complimentary copies to be presented and i ask kaila but to please assist with these presentations miss margo thomas director of the st lucha national archives an invaluable resource i'm sure it has been in the compilation of this text so a round of applause for the archives and certainly for miss thomas dr veronica simon head of the open campus of the university of the west indies she's not present today but she'll certainly be getting her copy miss dela ashby president of the st lucha labor party woman's arm miss diane felicia and president of the united workers party woman's arm not present today unfortunately thank you very much dr rigobert and as we prepare to bring our proceedings this morning to a close i would actually ask as well that all of the ladies who were recipients this morning stay behind just a moment so that we can get a group photo which i'm sure will be uh in and of itself an historical iconic moment