Mauritius Nation Assembly has recently passed the National Women’s Council Bill which will pave the way for a more modern and appropriate legislative framework to promote women empowerment and gender equality in the country.
The bill will encourage active participation of women in the social, economic and political. It repeals the National Women’s Council Act 1985.
Minister of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare, Mrs Marie-Aurore Perraud, stated that the rationale for the repeal of the current legislation and the enactment of a more modern piece of legislation is to enable the National Women’s Council to transform itself into a dynamic entity that would be in a better position to respond to the changing needs of the contemporary Mauritian women and contribute more effectively to uphold their status in a challenging world.
According to Mrs Perraud, the National Women’s Council Bill will go a long way towards strengthening the existing measures being taken by her Ministry for the empowerment of women and the achievement of gender equality in the social, economic and political fields. She added that strategies to improve women’s status, strengthen gender equality policies, eliminate gender disparities and reduce female unemployment will all contribute to improve the status of the Mauritian women economically, socially and politically.
“My Ministry will sustain its efforts all year round to ensure that gender equality becomes a reality for the harmonious socio-economic development of Mauritian families,” affirmed Mrs Perraud.
The National Women’s Council Bill makes better provision for the functioning of the National Women’s Council in order to provide a platform for women to voice their needs, concerns and aspirations. Its objectives include, among others, the improvement of the regulation of Women Associations and the management of the Regional Committees responsible for the activities of Women Associations.
It would be recalled that the introduction of the National Women Council Bill is in line with the objective of Government Programme 2015 – 2019, Achieving Meaningful Change, which called for the replacement of the National Women’s Council Act of 1985 with a view to provide for a more dynamic, productive and structured council.
