Women political leaders in the news continued

[the_future_modernes]

BRAZIL

Brazilian President Rousseff Escapes Lula's Shadow This is from Business Week, oh readers. Just so you know.

It's been a good start for Dilma Rousseff. The Brazilian President, who took office on Jan. 1, has stepped out from under the shadow of her ebullient predecessor and mentor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and established her identity as a hard-nosed pol. In February, she jack-hammered through Congress a minimum wage far below the amount demanded by the unions that constitute the base of her Workers' Party.

Then her government sent a valentine to the markets by pledging to slash this year's budget. During President Barack Obama's visit, she bluntly called for a more balanced trade relationship with the U.S. "People are pleased," says Robson Barreto, a corporate lawyer who heads the Rio de Janeiro chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce for Brazil. "She's making her own decisions, and they're not necessarily the ones Lula would have taken." In a Datafolha poll released on Mar. 21, Rousseff had a 47 percent approval rating, higher than Lula's after three months in office.MORE

And this one is from Fox News Latino News Brazilian students demonstrate, are received by president

Brasilia – Hundreds of students demonstrated Thursday in front of the Brazilian Congress calling for an increase in the country's education budget and managed to meet with President Dilma Rousseff. The president received a group of representatives of the student march at the presidential palace, in the company of Education Minister Fernando Haddad, her office said in a communique. The main demand of the students was for the government to devote 10 percent of the gross domestic product to education, up from the 7 percent guaranteed for the sector in the current budget.


In addition, they asked for spending on education of one-half the royalties obtained from the sale of the enormous petroleum reserves Brazil is beginning to exploit in its Atlantic territorial waters to be guaranteed by law. The president of the National Students Union, Augusto Chagas, confirmed to reporters that Rousseff appeared to be receptive and favorably inclined to the requests, but "she did not commit herself directly" to them. "We're leaving with confidence," Chagas said. "If we prevail in the National Congress, we believe that she (Rousseff) will not veto them."MORE

 

ICELAND


Iceland’s PM Violated Equality Laws

Prime Minister of Iceland Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir violated the laws on equality when Arnar Thór Másson was hired as office manager at the Prime Minister’s Office in June when there was a better qualified female applicant, Anna Kristín Ólafsdóttir, according to a ruling by the Equality Complaints CommitteePM Sigurdardóttir announced in the Althingi parliament just now that she will not resign because of the ruling in spite of the opposition’s calls for her resignation, visir.is reports.

Ólafsdóttir filed a complaint to the committee because Másson was chosen over her, Fréttabladid reports.

The committee concluded that Ólafsdóttir’s education made her better suited for the position than Másson’s education and that their work experience was equal. In terms of leadership qualities, Ólafsdóttir was better suited for the job as she had had a leading position in former jobs, unlike Másson.

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Iceland’s Government Likely to Widen Coalition

It is considered likely that the two government parties, the Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Movement, will soon seek the cooperation of other parties to reinforce the coalition after two Left-Green MPs resigned from the coalition this week. According to Fréttabladid’s sources, the Social Democrats are especially keen to make such changes but there are also voices of agreement within the Left-Greens. Allegedly, Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir, who chairs the Social Democrats, began discussing this possibility with her party members after three Left-Green MPs abstained in the voting on the 2011 budget bill in December.MORE

 

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO



Doctor's protest ends at intervention of the Prime Minister

Protesting doctors at the South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) are expected to return to work today as a health crisis was averted after the intervention of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Persad-Bissessar, chairmen of the Regional Health Authorities and the Medical Professionals Association of T&T (MPATT), which represents the doctors, met for the second day yesterday at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s to resolve their concerns. The Prime Minister said the first meeting took place on Wednesday evening at the same venue. At the post-Cabinet news conference which was held later, Persad-Bissessar said “consensus was arrived at.”


She said the doctors had agreed to “support and co-operate” with a review of operations at San Fernando General Hospital. This probe was ordered after the death of a 29-year-old Chrystal Boodoo-Ramsoomair during a Caesarean Section on March 4. The PM said the exercise was intended “to ascertain whether there was any systematic shortcomings or institutional failures.” She said the disciplinary probe which was a matter for the SWRHA Board would follow the systems review undertaken by the Ministry of Health. Persad-Bissessar said Housing and the Environment Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal would replace Legal Affairs Minister Prakash Ramadhar on the inter-ministerial committee to review and examine the industrial relations issues at the SWRHA. That committee is being chaired by Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh, and includes Labour Minister Errol McLeod.MORE

 

 

Kamla, 'special' kids have fun in the rain Huh. The headline bothers me. Is that acceptable terminology?

DESPITE heavy rain, children from 41 special schools enjoyed activities at PowerGen's 19th Annual Special Children's Fun Day yesterday. The 1,474 children and their care-givers were thrilled to be visited by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who told them to "see good, be good, do good and good will follow you". The children were entertained by soca artiste Dexter "Blaxx" Stewart, who had them dancing in the rain. The family day was held at PowerGen's Penal Sports Grounds, Syne Village, Penal. Persad-Bissessar was presented with a cheque for $100,000 for the Children's Life Fund by PowerGen's chairman, Indarjit Singh. Singh said research showed that special children who participate in sports improved in strength, coordination and flexibilityMORE

Children’s health an urgent priority—Kamla

... At the launch of the Children’s Life Fund at the Royal Garden Hotel, High Street Kensington, London, on Friday, Persad-Bissessar said children were the “most vulnerable” who deserved better protection. She said the aim was to raise $100 million in the life fund to help families with children in need of life-saving surgeries. “We owe a duty of care to the most vulnerable in our society and the harsh reality is that there is a lot more to be done as we strive to provide the best medical attention for our children,” Persad-Bissessar said. The fund was established last October.


A Children’s Life Fund account has been also established in the UK and contributions could be made to a Barclays account. One of the crucial factors in the progress of any country was the development of the child, the adult of tomorrow—tomorrow’s engineers, doctors, progressive farmers, teachers, scientists, social leaders, Persad-Bissessar noted. “In its efforts to help meet these needs, the People’s Partnership will concentrate on establishing and expanding its own services specifically geared towards children,” she said. “The need to strengthen social safety nets, to protect and promote human rights, including the rights of children, and focus on key sectors such as health are integral parts of our work as a Government,” Persad-Bissessar said.


She said the Government was also seeking to raise the standards simultaneously in education, nutrition, sanitation and health, with all partners and stakeholders “lending a hand,” including teachers, doctors, ministries, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society. “Make no mistake, there have been improvements in the addressing of children who require specialised treatment but the access to funds remains a significant barrier to realising their fundamental right to healthy lives,” Persad-Bissessar said. “Children’s health is an urgent priority in T&T.” She cited that under the life fund, in the last nine months, the lives of 17 children were saved via surgery performed abroad at a cost of $3.9 million.MORE

 

MOZAMBIQUE



Flashbacks : 2004 First female Prime Minister in Mozambique

afrol News, 17 February - Luísa Dias Diogo, until now Finance Minister of Mozambique, has today been named the country's first female Prime Minister ever. Mozambican President Joaquim Alberto Chissano gave Ms Diogo the post after long-serving Prime Minister Pascoal Manual Mocumbi had resigned from office.

... After Mr Mocumbi's resignation, President Chissano today named Ms Diogo as the new Prime Minister of Mozambique. She now occupies the office of Finance Minister and, according to the Presidency, is to combine the two posts until the elections. Luísa Dias Diogo, who is 46 years old, married and the mother of three children, will enter Mozambican history books as the country's first ever woman Head of Government. She has been Minister of Finance and Planning since 1994. Before that, Ms Diogo was Deputy Minister in the same Ministry between 1986 and 1989, while also heading the National Budgetary Direction between 1982 and 1989.MORE

 

2007 ANGOLA-MOZAMBIQUE Women Face Unequal Inequality

LISBON, Apr 12, 2007 (IPS) - The rights of women enshrined in the constitutions of Angola and Mozambique are identical. But in practice, there are enormous differences. The laws of the two largest Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa are non-discriminatory, and should therefore serve the interests of gender equality, but in Angola women often have to demand that the laws also be enforced without discriminating against them. This is the view of Angolan economics professor and Catholic missionary Ana de Carvalho Rufino e Menezes, better known in her country as Sister Ana, as cited in a lengthy article about the situation of African women in Africa 21, a specialist monthly magazine edited jointly in Luanda and Lisbon. Mozambique, on the other hand, is one of the 15 countries in the world with the highest representation of women in parliament, at 35 percent.


In Africa, only Rwanda has a larger proportion (nearly 50 percent). ... Mozambique had the initial advantage of a woman prime minister, Luisa Dias Diogo, "and in recent years outstanding groups of intellectuals have emerged, especially lawyers and sociologists, who have done excellent work in the field of gender equality," Grassi said. ... "Powerful" and "competent" are the terms most often used by Mozambicans to describe their 48-year-old Prime Minister Dias Diogo. She graduated from the University of London with a doctorate in economics, and was a high-level official at the World Bank before becoming minister of planning and finance from 1999 to 2004. MORE

 

2007 Mozambique: Network of Women Ministers And Parliamentarians

Maputo — Mozambican Prime Minister Luisa Diogo on Saturday launched in Maputo the "Network of Women Ministers and Parliamentarians" (MUNIPA), formed by women who are current or former members of the government or of the country's parliament, the Assembly of the Republic. Opening the founding meeting of the new organisation, Diogo said that the network aims to strengthen advocacy and lobbying activities so that policies and legislation are adopted favourable to gender equity and women's empowerment.MORE

 

2009 African Success:Luisa Diogo



Born on 11/04/1958 (format : day/month/year) Biography : Luisa Diogo (b. April 11, 1958), is a Mozambican politician who became the Prime Minister of Mozambique in February 2004. Before becoming Prime Minister, she was Minister of Planning and Finance, and she continued to hold that post until February 2005. She is the first female Prime Minister of Mozambique. Luisa Diogo represents the party FRELIMO, which has ruled the country since independence in 1975.Diogo has earned a reputation as a progressive reformer, a passionate advocate, and a savvy business-woman. According to Time, which ranked Diogo as one of the top leaders and revolutionaries in the world, she "leads a government that was once written off as a failed state but that now posts economic-growth rates of an Asian tiger."

Located in southeastern Africa, the tiny country of Mozambique is one of the poorest in the world, with approximately 70 percent of the population living below the poverty line. It is also a country frequently devastated by drought and floods, and in the early 2000s it was still recovering from a civil war that rocked the nation for nearly seventeen years (1975–92). Despite its problems, however, Mozambique is fortunate to have a visionary leader at its helm: Prime Minister Luisa Diogo. Diogo served as Mozambique's minister of finance for five years, from 1999 until 2004, and during her tenure the country experienced a slow but steady recovery.


In February 2004, she was appointed prime minister, becoming the first woman ever to hold the post. Luisa Dias Diogo was born on April 11, 1958, in the western Mozambique province of Tete. She attended Dona Maria Primary School in Tete City until she was twelve years old and the Tete Commercial School until she was fourteen. Diogo's high school years were spent at Maputo Commercial Institute. Following high school Diogo went on to study economics at Maputo's Eduardo Mondlane University. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1983, she continued her studies at the University of London, where she earned a master's degree in financial economics in 1992.

Ms. Diogo's term ended in 2010.