TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO ELECTED TO SIT ON THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE UNITED NATIONS ENTITY FOR GENDER EQUALITY AND THE EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN UN WOMEN, (2017 - 2019)
Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs – 8th April, 2016
At elections held during the Coordination and Management Meeting of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations on 6th April, 2016, Trinidad and Tobago received overwhelming support for its election to the Executive Board of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN WOMEN) for the three-year term, 2017 to 2019. Having commanded the largest number of votes of any candidate country in the Latin American and Caribbean region, that is 44 votes out of a possible 54, Trinidad and Tobago’s election reflects the confidence of the international community in the country’s ability and in its commitment to add value to the work and discourse of UN WOMEN.
UN WOMEN is the primary United Nations Organization charged with advancing the status of women and girls across various spheres of development. Election to the Executive Board, which is highly competitive, places countries so elected at the very heart of international advocacy and dialogue on the promotion of gender equality and on the role and empowerment of women to make their unfettered contribution to the development and up-liftment of society. The Executive Board which comprises representatives from 41 countries elected directly by the members of the Economic and Social Council is the primary governing body of UN WOMEN, charting the strategic direction and determining the operational programmes of the Organization.
Our electoral success reinforces this country’s position on the empowerment of women in achieving their full potential in contributing to national development, in all spheres, through among other things, the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal No. 5 to which the Government is fully committed. With Trinidad and Tobago sitting at the cutting edge of global thinking and policy formulation on the full integration of Women and Girls into the development process, a direct link to extraordinary global leadership and activism on these complex issues has been created, in a manner that could better inform and bolster domestic policy and practice. This would be to the benefit not only of women, but to the nation as a whole, as we intensify efforts to achieve balanced sustainable development.
In offering their congratulations to Trinidad and Tobago on its election, the international community expressed their confidence that Trinidad and Tobago would effectively execute the mandate given to it due to its track record in advancing issues relevant to women and the empowerment of women over the years in the areas of human rights, disarmament and the rule of law.
Trinidad and Tobago will take its seat on the Executive Board on 1 January, 2017.
Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs
View official document: Trinidad and Tobago Elected to sit on the Executive Board of UN WOMEN
