Soroptimist president calls for greater access to STEM programs for women & girls

By Admin. Updated 7:33 p.m., Wednesday, March 8, 2023, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).

A screenshot of an International Women’s Day video published by the St. Vincent Girls’ High School

President of Soroptimists International SVG – Ms. Donnette O’Neill has called for greater access to STEM programs for women and girls.

In her 2023 International Women’s Day Message, Ms. O’Neill called on the private sector, Non-Governmental Organizations – NGOs, and policymakers, “to aid in making stem programs more accessible to women and girls so that they can make a greater input in the research, development and testing of technology.”

She said: “The increased use of technology has shown the gaps that exist and also the resilience of some women to adapt. The women and girls who have adapted and are adapting quickly are those who have support either financially or by family and friends.

“The United Nation’s theme this year is “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”. The Covid 19 pandemic has pushed technology to the forefront of our lives,” she said.

Soroptimists International SVG’s main aims are to Educate, Empower, and Enable women to succeed.

“We have embarked on both vocational education and secondary education assistance to women. The newproject with the Barrouallie technical institute where we aid in the transportation and registration of women in the sewing program empowers women to be self-employed and independent,” Ms. O’Neill said in the press release.

The rest of the press release:

Sixty five(65) Soroptimist Members will be attending in person, in New York, the Commission on the Status of Women at the UN Headquarters from the 6th to 17thMarch, where they will be discussing the gender inequality issues in technology.

I want to use this opportunity to thank all of the women who have paved the way for us and encourage others to keep fighting and moving forward with their dreams and goals. Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek(Barack Obama).

We are stronger when we work together to influence change. The younger ones are looking on, we need tobe the change.