Public Consultations on Equal Opportunities Bill Underway

Judith Alpuche

A series of countrywide public consultations commenced over the weekend; on Monday it was held in Belmopan where proponents of the Equal Opportunities Bill presented, to an audience of interested persons, the need for the proposed legislation.  Led by Chief Executive Officer Judith Alpuche of the Ministry of Human Development and Social Transformation and Executive Director Laura Tucker-Longsworth of the National AIDS Commission, the overarching theme of the discussion was national development and how equal opportunities for men and women fit within that context.

Judith Alpuche, C.E.O., Ministry of Human Development

“If we are to achieve national development, we have to be firing on all cylinders.  We have to make sure that we have an environment where people can contribute to national development and not have all these barriers that are based on their otherness, that we see people for who they are.  So that’s ultimately what we’re trying to accomplish with this bill and as I said, it’s very important that we have all inputs.  At the end of the day I believe that there will be a net positive effect that we have to take intentional steps to insure that all those types of discrimination in our country that exist, that those are neutralized, that people are not adversely affected by the varied types of discrimination that exist in this country.  And I think that at the end of the day, we will have a better society, that we will have better public services because a part of this is about how does a public, that a public officer has to serve without fear or favour, indeed and can’t be biased against you because of certain characteristics.”