Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: The best insight, instant feedback, accountability. The all new Talk Radio Freedom 106.5 as I said to you all, ladies and gentlemen, we have another interview. At this point in time, what are we talking about? We're talking about women parliamentarians launching a leadership program called yes as welcome back to our program. She's been with us on numerous occasions before talking about all kind of thing. This morning we're talking about something totally different. Let's welcome to our program MP Anita Hinza. Good morning to you.
[00:00:33] Speaker B: Good morning. Happy New Year. How are you?
[00:00:35] Speaker A: I'm fine. Happy New Year to you. We haven't spoken since last year is a long time.
[00:00:39] Speaker B: It's been quite some time.
[00:00:41] Speaker A: Yeah, it has. But this morning our conversation is on a really interesting development.
Later on, who knows, I might pick you a little bit about what's going on on the politics.
But we're here to talk about this Leadership Program 2025 that was launched by our women parliamentarians. Yes. What is this about? Tell us about it.
[00:01:02] Speaker B: All right. So the Women Parliamentarians of Trinidad and Tobago is an apolitical organization. It comprises women parliamentarians past, present and hopefully we, through our mentorship program, future women parliamentarians. And it came about as the, you know, the looking at female leadership in our country and looking at how can we, those of us who've been through the process, those of us who've been through, you know, the experience of being a parliamentarian, use that experience to encourage young women and to pass on the lessons that we would have learned. And so this is the second version, the second cohort of the yes Leadership Program 2024 was our inaugural program, very successful program. And we would have had eight weeks of training, mentorship. The young ladies would have gone through the experience of learning about, you know, parliamentary debate, public speaking, advocacy and a wide range of skill sets that will help them whether they choose to, you know, take up the mantle of leadership in parliament or outside. And this year, on Friday, we launched the second cohort and we're encouraging young ladies to apply. And you know, the most important message that I want to get out there is that a lot of persons, a lot of young women will look at this and say, this is not for me. I don't like public speaking. I am afraid of speaking in front of people. This is not for me. I'll find some other way to, you know, to express my leadership qualities. And I want to say to them, this may be for you. We are hoping, you know, they are the ones who would gravitate naturally. But I Want to encourage young ladies between the ages of 18 to 29 to take a chance on yourself. You won't know unless you experience it. You won't know what hidden talent you may have. And really, the program is about, like I said, mentorship, networking, learning, skill sets that you yourself may not know is some untapped quality. And so even if you're thinking this isn't for me, give it a try. Our applications are available on all our social media platforms@womenparliamentarianstt. We're on Instagram, Facebook, you can reach us as well as womenparliamentariansmail.com and so if you have any questions, just touch base with us. There are a lot of former parliamentarians, sitting parliamentarians, waiting to answer your questions and encourage you into, you know, a life of advocacy, leadership and national service.
[00:03:51] Speaker A: Other than the age requirements that you've outlined, are there other requirements to be a part of the program?
[00:03:57] Speaker B: You have to be a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago. The application process is particularly rigorous so that you do have to submit a video explaining your interest in a program. You also have to, well, fill out our application form, which would include things like your current education status, what programs you may be involved in, that sort of thing, but beyond the age limit and being a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago.
[00:04:26] Speaker A: Yeah. So let's talk about this. This is intended at. At speaking to individuals and guiding them and preparing and mentorship and that kind of thing. How would you describe the women who've been in our parliament, who've been through our parliament, and the contribution that they've made to our nation?
[00:04:49] Speaker B: You know, since becoming a member of the women Parliamentarians of Trinidad and Tobago, I've gotten to interact with persons who sat as far back as the fifth Republican Parliament, which in itself served as a space for mentorship for me as a person who's currently in Parliament. And you realize how many similarities we have, how far we've come, and how far we certainly may still need to go. And what I think is the genius of this, the thing that might most touch young women is that mentorship aspect that you get to see parliamentarians, women parliamentarians in particular, as human beings. You get to see us in our most personal element. So you see us in our parliamentary debates, you see us on media, newspapers, etc. But to get a sense of what our stories are, the real world experiences that got us from point A to point B, and all of us have a different story to tell, everybody has some different avenue into how they got into Parliament. And I think you Know, we have experiences that would add value to the lives of these young women.
[00:06:14] Speaker A: There are a number of glass ceilings that have been shattered.
And this initially was a very male dominated arena.
And over the years we've seen that women have fought for their own, their own space, their own voice and to make their own mark on the nation's parliament. And one would put forward the opinion that that culminated with Kamala Passad Bisesa becoming the first prime minister, female prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago. And well, on the flip side of that, not necessarily in parliament, we had the first female president as well. So women in this country, they've been doing exceptionally well. We have female president of the Senate, House speaker, police commissioner. We could go on and on and on with women shattering the glass ceiling in Trinidad and Tobago.
But when it comes to you, you spoke about persons who served in the fifth Parliament a pretty long time ago and what are some of their stories that they've shared? What were some of the challenges that they had to confront?
[00:07:25] Speaker B: You know, it's a. How your voice is respected in the caucus. How do you move from having an independent point of view and managing, you know, the whip system within the parliament, that sort of thing. How do you balance your life's responsibilities? How are you balancing your family life, your public life? How do you maintain your sanity while living in a space where people are. There's some sort of constant scrutiny and things like that.
Valuable insight. I mean, even as we all go through navigating our own spaces, when I entered Parliament, the story that I tell young women is that, you know, I've always been cognizant of the fact that everything I say now will be recorded. That's a different experience from persons who went through the parliamentary system before.
We are now almost chronically online. I mean, look at us here. This is our radio show that people can now see us. There was a point where nobody, you know radio, you have a face for radio, they say, and now we transcended that and, you know, learning aspects of conduct and, you know, media etiquette and those sorts of things. I think, you know, with each passing generation, we add to the knowledge, and to accept your point that women in Trinidad and Tobago have been doing well in terms of reaching upper levels, executive management, etc, and that's why we saw it fit as a group to say, let us then, let us not have persons making it to the top and not then let's, you know, pass our hand down to help, right? You know, help people rise up from here. And I think that Is the critically important part that once you've accomplished something that's not the end goal, the end goal is to then make it a little bit easier for the next generation to accomplish it so that it's a little bit easier. It's a little, perhaps even less remarkable, less surprising that these are the, you know, and if we have a role in, you know, just by networking and mentoring and teaching the skill sets that we have, if we have a role in bringing together these young women who have ideas for national development and giving them a voice, I think that is, you know, a significantly important part of our national service. As women parliamentarians of Trinidad and Tobago.
[00:10:11] Speaker A: Do you think today that your male counterparts have the level of respect that, that you think is deserving of their female counterparts? And the reason why I'm asking is recently we had a very, very distasteful experience in parliament with Stuart Young. Any comments that he made?
[00:10:31] Speaker B: Absolutely, absolutely. And then you, you know, you see it and you, you hear things like you have to have thicker skin and those sorts of things. But in terms of respect, that is, you know, an ever evolving space. And when you look at how our politics is conducted overall, I think there is a significant room for improvement. I think how we speak about each other, how we engage with each other, there's a significant space for improvement. And again, that's why programs like the YES Leadership program is critical in informing the thought process of the next generation to show. And especially because this is an apolitical organization, especially because you have women parliamentarians from different political parties, from no political parties, in terms of the persons who served as independent senators, persons who, you know, form themselves in parliament for national interest. And that we have said, look, I mean, there's a space for us, party colours aside, that will allow for us to show the next generation that there's a better way to practice our political leanings.
[00:11:49] Speaker A: It's definitely a step in the right direction because gender equality is something that nations across the world strive for. And when you see some of what takes place in other parts of the world, we have to pat ourselves on the back. We're not there yet, but we're definitely way ahead of some others. I think it was Malawi or one of those African nations. They are having now the installation of a female president. I think it was, and we had interviewed someone from the media over there and they admitted that it was a cultural, it was a cultural anomaly to have what went from a male dominated leadership structure to have a woman in charge. And some were hailing it as A great development. Others were not necessarily as in support of. And it just goes to show that it's about the realities that exist in certain societies, because there are some societies that are so progressive that they demand equity when it comes to the numbers composition, male, female and everything else. And there are others that just don't see it as important at all.
And it's not to take it away from people and say, well, they're backward or they're this or that or the next. But it's a cultural norm that you're talking about that you have to change in tandem with how the world is evolving.
And as I say, you know, we've done. I think we've done pretty well.
[00:13:28] Speaker B: All right. And, you know, culture, as you raised the fact that it's a cultural norm, there's also a mindset that, you know, part of the genesis of things like the yes. Leadership program and access to mentorship is this idea for a lot of young women that maybe this is not the place for me. And because of things that you've seen that you don't like, you know, for example, the way people are spoken to or about or even the way that women, we are addressed in the media, the way that there may be a focus on outfits versus substance, things like that. And the idea that young women may not naturally gravitate to this space because they think, look, there is so much extra work for us to do to keep up with our male counterparts. So much extra thinking, extra thought process for our unique female experience. And I think part of what our yes. Leadership program is designed to do is to, again, help you, give you the tools to cope with the system and show you our ways that outside of our cultural norms, just a mindset shift that the space is there for us to take up. And the only way you can get more female parliamentarians is you get more persons, you know, applying for the process to run for elections, to take up spaces in advocacy on an NGO level so that you can be, you know, an independent senator or something like that. And there are spaces for you and to show you how to navigate that space. And I think that's why things like the yes. Leadership program, despite the accomplishments that we've had already, is still absolutely necessary. And I think the networking will go a long way. I mean, you've heard about it, the boys club in politics and upper executive management and whatnot. And so here we are trying to create a safe space for young women as well.
[00:15:41] Speaker A: What's the structure of the program? How does it work?
[00:15:45] Speaker B: Yes. So Our applications will close on February 12 and the committee will then go into a process of evaluating the applications. Successful applicants, once contacted, will go into an eight week training program. During those eight weeks you will be exposed to, like I said, conversations and training programs on things like media etiquette, social media etiquette, advocacy, public speaking and a range of other things that are helpful tools in the arsenal of any parliamentarian. And then it culminates with an all female parliamentary debate. So you will have from speaker to prime minister, leader of the Opposition, the entire government and opposition will be members of the program and they will do. They would participate in their debate at the end of the program, which usually would run on the Parliament channel. Last year it was extremely successful. The young ladies exceeded expectation.
You also had where I mean, the former, the young lady who served as a member of Parliament for Tabukeet contacted me to find out and if I had any insights on how she should approach the debate, etc. And so we are still in contact today. So again, fostering that type of personal touch, that outreach, opportunity for mentorship. So that's what they will be looking at.
Like I said, the chairman of our programs and projects committee is Mrs. Carolyn Sipasad Beacher who's been working extremely hard on the success of the program. I think the team want to be genuinely congratulated for the last year and we look forward to, you know, learning from the things that we may have had a little hiccup with last year and improving this year for the second cohort.
[00:17:43] Speaker A: Yeah, you know, politics in this country and I guess across the world, forces, people, I don't know, I shouldn't say force, but it often ends with people having preconceived notions about individuals based on their political allegiances and some of the things that have happened in public spaces and that kind of thing. But when you take that, when you take off that mask and you deal with individuals in a forum like this, where your politics don't matter and who you vote for and who you support, that does not matter. You see a side of individuals that is so welcoming, so enabling that it's sometimes diametrically opposed to these individuals in their official capacities.
And I say that because you spoke about Caroline Siversad Beitran. She's an amazing person as an individual, when you speak to her, she always wants to help somebody. And that's because I know her outside of the political realm and persons like yourself and so on. What is the success rate? Have you all been mapping what happens to persons after how many of them get involved? Are they involved? Do they just fall by the wayside? What happens?
[00:19:01] Speaker B: No, from the first cohort, we had a number of persons who were already involved in the youth advocacy space. And so you see a lot of them around and utilizing the tools of the program. And because it's our second cohort, we do have a mandate from the executive to map the successes and so that we try to keep a constant outreach. I think There is a WhatsApp group of the last cohort, so that person, again, can stay in touch, stay connected if they need help, if they need, you know, if they're running a program and they need speakers, these types of things. If they're. If there's a panel discussion, not one of them would be leading and they wanted some outside parliamentary help, that sort of thing. So we are in touch with them on a number of levels and certainly doing our best to ensure their continued success in whatever avenue, because, you know, not everyone will go through the experience and decide on a parliamentary rule, but they certainly are looking at national leadership roles in various spheres. And so we try to assist wherever we can.
[00:20:18] Speaker A: Yeah, well, we're almost out of time because I do have some messages to batches of commercial to take us up to the top. And it would be remiss of me if I don't speak to you a bit about, well, outside of these events, what's going on in the local politics, what's been happening with you? Because we know that a statement made recently by the UNC's David Lee, he said very openly that everyone can be assured of a fair screening. Now, when I heard that, I have my own thoughts about it, but let me get from you what has been going on when it comes to screening and all these kinds of things.
[00:21:01] Speaker B: Well, the constituency of Tabuki has not been called for screening yet.
As the process continues, I anticipate that I'll get the call and I will go into the screening. I don't want to presuppose or give some kind of preemptive feeling, but I think that I am interested to see what the process will bring and how we'll conduct ourselves. Certainly, coming out of the internal elections, persons would have observed certain things and certain actions.
But that being said, I put in my nomination paperwork and I intend to go through with the process to the best of my ability. I've continued in service the constituency of Tabagit. The discharge of my parliamentary duties, I think, can be without question. And so, you know, now it's just to see the process out through till the end.
[00:22:06] Speaker A: Yeah. And I guess that's really all you can do at this, at this stage in the game, really. And true, that's all that you can do is a wait and see. And trust me when I say to you that there are many people who are looking on silently waiting to see what happens.
And I'm going on. In many instances in the past you've had persons who have already made up their minds about certain things.
For some strange reason this time around, there are persons who have not yet made up their minds about certain things and they are waiting to see how certain things unfold. And what I find interesting is the large number of people who are making the very same comments that they're waiting to see certain things before making a decision in their mind about whatever they need to decide upon. So I guess it can't be that long again because we're in 2025 and elections are on the horizon. So we'll see how it goes. And I'm sure that we'll speak to you regardless. I wish you all the best on the screening. Thank you once again for being with us here this morning.
[00:23:10] Speaker B: Well, thank you for having me. And just as we close, I want to encourage all persons to to visit our social media platforms at women parliamentarians. TT yeah, thank you. Thank you again. Have a good day.
[00:23:21] Speaker A: You too. And that's how we end our interview here this morning with the best insight, instant feedback, accountability, the all new Talk Radio Freedom 106.5.
