The presidential couple, Their Excellencies Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and Constancia Mangue de Obiang, attended a solemn thanksgiving mass in Bata to commemorate International Women’s Day on 8th March, which was also attended by several members of the Government, including the Minister for Social Affairs and Gender Equality, Maria Consuelo Nguema Oyana.
Under this year’s banner of “Reducing gender inequality in innovation and technology”, the religious minister stressed that this message was an invitation for women to continue to redouble their efforts so that equal opportunities and other rights continue to make progress.
In another part of his homily, and drawing on verses from Proverbs that describe the characteristics of an excellent and virtuous woman, as well as the message from a passage from the Gospel of St. Matthew, the celebrant said that our activity as children of God is to work for the common good and for a better Guinea, “it is true that much has already been done, but the struggle continues,” he added.
Reverend Father Carlos Nguema Mansogo also said that every woman, and therefore every human being, wants her children to achieve excellence, to have the best in life and to occupy positions of great prestige. In order for the children of God to achieve their goals, in the text of reference, Jesus Christ set humility as an unequivocal condition for being the greatest among all.
The celebrant also said that God wants our sisters, mothers and daughters to be useful women; women who ease the burden of the home; women who help their husbands; women who are willing to serve, and expressed the wish for women to understand that they must bring benefits to our society.
Between now and 8th March 2024, the priest called on women to achieve new goals in the areas of education, the fight against alcoholism and the eventual eradication of the dowry, which has become a major obstacle to marriage for young people.
International Women’s Day is being commemorated this year at a time when progress on gender equality is being questioned at the United Nations. Since Monday, the UN has been holding the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, during which UN General Secretary, Antonio Guterres, said that equality between men and women is getting further and further away. In that respect, our country has made enormous progress: women hold responsibilities both in government and in the rest of the official State bodies.
Source: Official Web Page of the Government