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On March 8 each year, we cel­e­brate In­ter­na­tion­al Women’s Day, high­light­ing the achieve­ments of women who con­tin­ue to break bar­ri­ers, chal­lenge in­equal­i­ties, and shape de­vel­op­ment lo­cal­ly and glob­al­ly.

This year’s theme, “Give to Gain,” un­der­scores a sim­ple but pow­er­ful truth: mean­ing­ful progress re­quires de­lib­er­ate con­tri­bu­tions from gov­ern­ments, in­sti­tu­tions, com­mu­ni­ties, and in­di­vid­u­als. When we in­vest in women, we all ben­e­fit as a so­ci­ety.

In Trinidad and To­ba­go, we have made en­cour­ag­ing strides in women’s health. Con­tin­ued gov­ern­ment fi­nanc­ing of women’s health pro­grammes, ac­cess to the HPV vac­cine that helps pre­vent cer­vi­cal can­cer, and the in­creas­ing avail­abil­i­ty of men­tal health clin­ics are im­por­tant gains. These are achieve­ments we should cel­e­brate and pro­tect.