The world has become more diversified, with women becoming a real power of change.

There is an English saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." Women often become these tough ones.

I have learned from my own experience that if you work hard you will succeed.

From day one, my mantra has been - and will continue to be - that as a government we were there to serve the people, not the other way around.

It was my mother, despite the limitations placed on women of her time by society, who insisted I be allowed to go abroad to study, in sturdy defiance of the male elders of the family, who protested and decided that I should be married off instead.

We do not have many women leaders in the world. But if you look at the current examples, most of those few female leaders that we have today lead their countries under the pressure of difficult political and economic circumstances. They all posses strong personalities and have real political influence on the domestic and international scene.

I want to use my position of influence to change the laws of the land to the benefit of the women of Trinidad and Tobago, divide the economic pie more evenly and appoint more women to positions within the government.