In observance of International Day of the Girl 2021, 18-year-old International Relations student of the University of Guyana, Corissa McClure, acted in the role of Canadian High Commissioner for the day on Thursday.
According to a press release from the High Commission, the teen in her capacity as the High Commissioner had a day filled with meetings and other engagements as she used the platform to advocate for gender equality in Guyana and the Caribbean.
McClure’s day, the release said, began with a meeting at the CARICOM Secretariat, where she was congratulated on winning the High Commissioner for the day contest and the excellent points she presented to promote gender equality.
The CARICOM team, the release said, took the opportunity to speak about some of CARICOM’s projects under their youth programme as well as the upcoming plans under their gender and development portfolio.
During the meeting, CARICOM Secretary General Carla Barnett highlighted that she is looking forward to the day when a woman being the Secretary General of CARICOM or any other senior institution would no longer be a rare occurrence.
“She emphasized that women belong at the forums where decisions are being made and she encouraged Ms. McClure to continue to pursue her ambitions of one day becoming a diplomat,” the release noted.
According to the release, later in the day, McClure was the guest of honour at a lunch hosted at the High Commissioner’s residence that included British High Commissioner Jane Miller; US Ambassa-dor Sarah Lynch; UN Resident Coordina-tor Yeşim Oruç; the CARICOM Secretary General Dr Barnett; Brazilian Ambassador Maria Clara Duclos Carisio; and Deputy EU Representative Evelina Melbarzde.
The women provided McClure with more insight into the life of career diplomat and had discussions with her on how she can continue to influence change in any male dominated field. They also spoke about the points she proposed to increase gender quality and the current issues affecting youth, of which McClure highlighted mental health as an important issue.
Later on she was given a tour of the Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute, which is an initiative of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security and was provided information on the business incubator, the WIIN Program, and other initiatives
McClure had the opportunity to discuss her suggestions for how the ministry could increase gender equality and was informed about the programmes that it already had in place. During the tour she was given a background about the institute and the ongoing work to upgrade the facilities to better serve women, including the new computer lab and the construction of a modern kitchen, which the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives is providing with appliances. She was also able to interact with Aliyah Hassan, who is a part of the Ministry’s Young Influencers Program and she was invited to be a guest on the Ministry’s youth show “Youth
Unfiltered”.
On October 11, 2011, Canada led the call for the establishment of an Inter-national Day of the Girl at the United Nations to raise awareness about the unique challenges that girls face and to urge all to take action. The United Nations then declared October 11, 2012 as the world’s first International Day of the Girl.
The International Day of the Girl provides a mechanism to enhance awareness and understanding of girl-specific issues and it is also an opportunity to recognise girls and young women as powerful agents of change. The release said that “Canada is proud to support girls in reaching their full potential to be positive influencers in their communities and around the world.”
McClure, who is a past top CSEC performer of St. Joseph High School, is an avid volunteer, having worked with the Presidents’ Youth Award Programme, GTT’s Pinktober event, Guyana Inter-national Petroleum Oil and Gas Exhi-bition, the University of Guyana’s Inter-national Affairs Association, and recently, the US Embassy’s Youth Action Network.
She is also a “firm believer” in equal rights for women and advocating against gender biases and gender-based violence and that she hopes to one day have a career in international relations while expressing that emerging winner of the competition was the opportunity of a lifetime, the release added.
