From left: Former Ombudsman Alba Martijn, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles Maria Liberia-Peters, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles Suzy Römer, Dr. Dorette Courtar, Government Commissioner Alida Francis, Island Councilwomen Adelka Spanner and Rechelline Leerdam.
ST. EUSTATIUS--The celebration of International Women’s Day in St. Eustatius on March 8 brought together a few powerful women who shared the stage to speak about this important day for the female gender.
Former Prime Minister of the former Netherlands Antilles Maria Liberia-Peters: “Sometimes It is only when I see these pictures of all women representing important positions in the community that I realise again how much advancement we have made to break the bias. So, we have been ahead of the UN and will continue to serve as role models for our new generation.”
Former Prime Minister of the former Netherlands Antilles Suzy Römer said, “It has been quite a memorable Women’s Day on Statia, listening to several women, each passionate to give their view on how to push Statia’s government forward and committed to give their best towards progress. A beautiful closing of the day was participation at the award ceremony of Dr. Dorette Courtar, a young medical doctor full of energy, dedicated to providing healthcare to her people.”
Courtar, a gynaecologist/obstetrician who worked at St. Maarten Medical Center for some time, was asked whether her expertise is used at the St. Eustatius hospital. She is only on call if someone gets ill. Her specialist services are not recognised by health insurance ZVK. “Despite the fact that I’m here having the expertise, qualifications and experience, because the ZVK will not agree for them to be treated in Statia,” Courtar said.
She has experienced people not willing to incorporate changes, even when that means improvement.
“A lot of young professionals out there are willing to come back to serve Statia, but opportunities need to be created for them to return. We need collaboration and empowerment to be able to exceed and pool resources for the benefit of Statia. The young generation needs to acknowledge the legacy of our ancestors, while the older generation must be willing at a certain point to pass the baton. There is a lot of work to be done here in Statia due to the enormous backlog in healthcare,” Courtar said
Statia International Women’s Day Committee Chair Ingrid Whitfield was not present due to illness. In a written message read by a member of the committee she said: “This year’s theme ‘Break the Bias’ is something that many women are still faced with today at the workplace, in their own homes and more, and I encourage you to be strong and brave enough to speak up about it, stand up for your rights. We women must support each other in our struggle to Break this Bias. Together we can do it.”
