3 Guyanese young women act as President, PM, Canadian High Commissioner for a day

International Day of the Girl Child

As women across the world celebrate International Day of the Girl Child tomorrow, three Guyanese young women – Renuka Persaud, Delicia George and Sara Mohan – were selected to hold the post of President, Prime Minister and Canadian High Commissioner for one day.
Held under the 2018 theme, “With Her: A Skilled Girl Force”, the Day of the Girl Child marks the beginning of a year-long effort to help girls attain skills for employability, through a campaign that will bring together advocates and supporters to highlight the most pressing needs and to identify opportunities for

investment.
According to Canadian Ambassador to Guyana, Lilian Chatterjee, “A day of the girl child” which is spearheaded by Canada, is to remind us of the barriers placed in the path of girls which prevent them from fulfilling their potential.
“In 2016, the successful candidate was named High Commissioner for a day. Last year, I asked PM (Moses) Nagamootoo to join PM Trudeau to give up his seat for a day so last year we had a PM for a day and High Commissioner for a day. Based on its success, this year, we broadened the competition with President Granger hosting a President for a day in addition to the PM for a day and High Commissioner for a day,” Chatterjee explained in an interview with Guyana Times.
Further she noted that the day is set aside to focus its attention on the challenges girls face, and promotes girls’ empowerment and fulfillment of their human rights.
In Guyana, the Canadian High Commission has marked this day with a competition for young women, inviting them to send videos telling us why this day is important.
Meanwhile, during a courtesy call at Cabinet on Tuesday morning, where both President Granger and Prime Minister Nagamootoo gave up their seats, President for the day, 18-year-old, Renuka Persaud said observing International Day of the Girl Child, in her opinion, means raising awareness both locally and internationally about the human rights of girls. Women and girls, she said, play an integral role in

society and it is imperative that their rights be respected.
“It is an incredible opportunity to be here today, sitting in the President’s seat as the President of the day. It is a really great opportunity to have a girl in this position to speak for our own rights because that is what International Day of the Girl Child is about. [It is] about giving girls the opportunity to speak for themselves and to have their say,” Persaud said in an interview with the Public Affairs Department of the Ministry of the Presidency.
Persaud recently graduated from Queen’s College. She plans on continuing her education in the ICT sector in order to pursue a career in programming and software engineering. In addition to programming, she also likes to paint, read and animate (like in her Day of the Girl video submission) in her spare time.
Meanwhile, Delicia George, Prime Minister for a day, is 20 years old and a student at the University of Guyana. She enjoys dancing and swimming but spends most of her time volunteering with different youth groups. She aspires to be a lawyer.
The Prime Minister for the day, George, in her presentation, urged women to “break glass ceilings” and to pursue initiatives which can help them to become better individuals and positive contributors to society.
Canadian High Commissioner for a day, Sara Mohan, is 20 years old. She attended St Joseph High School and has an Associate’s Degree in humanities. She aspires to be a diplomat.
Mohan used the opportunity to call for more action, rather than lip service, to conquer gender inequality and violence against women and girls.
The trio were also given the opportunity to share their experiences thus far and all concluded that “it is indeed hard work” serving as President, Prime Minister and Canadian High Commissioner.
Following the courtesy call at Cabinet, the young women met with First Lady Sandra Granger at State House, where they discussed several areas of mutual interest, including Robotics, Information and Communication Technology, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and women and girls’ empowerment.
First Lady Sandra Granger praised the initiative as she noted that “it allows our girls to dream as big as they want to.”
While this is the second year the Canadian High Commission has partnered with the Government of Guyana to afford girls such opportunities, this is the first year that there has been a ‘President for the day’.
As part of the activities, each of the young women was given a tour of their respective offices and Parliament Buildings. They were also treated to tea with the Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Barton Scotland.