Canadian High Commissioner gives up his seat on ‘International Day of the Girl’ commemoration

Georgetown: To commemorate the fifth International Day of the Girl, Mr. Pierre Giroux, the High Commissioner of Canada to Guyana gave up his seat on Friday to a young Guyanese girl who, through a High Commission social media competition emerged as the successful candidate to take the prestigious seat.  High Commissioner Giroux’s actions mirrored Canada’s Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, Marie-Claude Bibeau, who led the charge this October to give girls a seat at the decision making table by giving up hers for a day to a dynamic Canadian girl. Four other Canadian Ministers were similarly inspired to give up their seats to girls in recognition of the day.

High Commissioner Giroux believes that girls are powerful agents of change and need to be included as full participants in decisions that affect their lives. “Everyone has a role to play in making gender equality a reality,” he told the winner and High Commissioner for a Day, Kendra Warner, in his “hand over” meeting Friday morning.

Kendra Warner is 18 years old and a volunteer with the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association who is currently leading an anti-bullying campaign for the month of October. She wants to be a doctor when she grows up and strongly believes in sexual and reproductive health education in schools.

“I was so excited to be High Commissioner for the Day,” shared Kendra. “It was the best day of my life!”

As High Commissioner for a Day, Kendra was given a tour of the High Commission to meet with “her” staff. She had meetings with Minister Rupert Roopnarine and UNICEF’s acting country representative, Paolo Marchi. Minister Roopnarine agreed with her that more focus is needed in schools regarding the particular issues that girls face given the “male-centric” society we live in. She discussed the need for child marriage legislation with Mr. Marchi. She also hosted a lunch at the Official Residence with guests such as Minister Garrido-Lowe, Member of Parliament, Vindhya Persaud and founder of Youth Media Guyana, Andrea Bryan-Garner. All expressed keen interest in keeping in touch with Kendra and readily joined her anti-bullying campaign by donning the blue ribbons she had brought with her.

“I was able to have my voice heard by key decision makers which is important to me because I think that girls’ voices need to be heard,” she stated.

Kendra also got to meet with the runners up of the competition and a lively conversation about issues facing girls today in Guyana ensued. High Commissioner decided that more conversations like these are needed and intends to nurture a network of girls and young women to build on the day’s initiative.

“In Canada, there is a growing recognition that, in addition to children’s issues and women’s issues, the intersection of age and gender in girls gives rise to unique issues requiring special attention. The International Day of the Girl provides a mechanism to enhance awareness and understanding of girl-specific issues,” he shared. “But we have to build on this and continue the conversation and intervention even after the commemoration is over,” he stated.

The International Day of the Girl is a special day designated by the United Nations to raise awareness of girls’ rights around the world. Canada led the call for an International Day of the Girl at the United Nations to help raise awareness of the discrimination girls’ face, as well as their tremendous potential.