MEMBER of Parliament (MP) for East Makira Lily Maefai has acknowledged the roles of women in homes and societies.
Speaking at the annual international women’s day celebration in Honiara on Monday Ms. Maefai acknowledged the sacrifices made by women in their homes from generation to generation.
“We take the time to recognize and celebrate the achievements of women in the Solomon Islands and around the world from generation to generation.
“Each of us knows of a woman who has sacrificed much to bring us to where we are now today in life whether it is your mother, aunt, grandmother, sister or wife or a female friend,” she said.
She also highlighted that there are many struggles and sacrifices that women face but go unnoticed by society.
“We are generation equality takes into account that issues faced and challenged by women in the past, present, and the next generation to access equal rights for women and girls.
“There is still a lot of work that needs to be done in this area hence; passing on the button to the next generation of women will help to achieve this goal with the support from the more experienced ones,” she said.
She also explained that equal doesn’t mean that men and women will become the same and neither does it mean that women will overpower men but it simply means that they all have to be valued equally respecting one another which will lead to equal opportunities for all.
“We need to recognize that both men and women need to be able to access basic rights and services entitled to all citizens of the Solomon Islands.
“Basic rights such as access to affordability of health care, access to clean water and sanitation, access to education including life skills, literacy, and financial literacy, access to women economic empowerment including market savings and employment, access to protection, access to fairness in workplace and institution including equal pay for the same work and the list goes on,” said Ms. Maefai.
By BRYAN LUVENA
