Belize’s Speaker of the House Attends Conference of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians

Over the weekend, Speaker of the House Valerie Woods represented Belize at the 13th Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association for Women Parliamentarians of the Caribbean, Americas, and Atlantic Region (CWP CAA). The two-day event began on Saturday in Turks and Caicos Islands. The conference focused on a number of issues including the role of women parliamentarians in democratic governance, youth crime and interventions that women parliamentarians can contribute to addressing regional concerns. During her opening remarks, Speaker Woods noted that, quote, “the purpose of a women parliamentary network in the region is because women are still under-represented. If parliaments are to be truly representative of the people, then it needs to reflect this in its numbers and currently in the region, it does not. There is much more work to do.”  End of quote.  Speaker Woods was joined at the conference by Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly, Clarita Pech. They both attended the official opening ceremony of the 45th Regional Conference for the CPA CAA parliamentarians as well as the first conference session on Oceans Biodiversity and Food Security Preparedness held on Monday. The duo returned home today.