Congrats on your new human rightsrole, Clarke

THE EDITOR: The Hindu Women’s Organisation of TT warmly congratulates Roberta Clarke on her recent appointment to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

As an enthusiastic proponent of the 1995 BPFA (Beijing Platform for Action), Clarke has focused her attention on the need to end violence against women, which was one of the key priorities of the BPFA’s 12 areas of concern. The objective here is to transform values, attitudes and practices in “the promotion of gender equality which is fundamental to social justice.”

She is the current president of the Coalition Against Domestic Violence of TT and has already undertaken several roles within the UN for more than two decades.

It was during her tenure as regional programme director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)/UN Women – Caribbean from 2003 to 2012 that UN Women initiated links with faith-based organisations so that “faith should be a powerful tool to transform communities and societies into spaces of equality and peace.”

Consequently, the HWO was granted financial support from UN Women which enabled its members to strengthen their resolve and expand their outreach in their campaign against the Marriage Acts of TT. These laws perpetuated the blatant violation of the human rights of our girls for generations and became a contentious issue before change was effected.

We thank Clarke for supporting our cause at a critical juncture in our advocacy and wish her every success in her new role as she is called upon to promote the observance and defence of human rights in the Americas.

BRENDA GOPEESINGH

HWO of TT