I am woman

Sometimes the news is grim; sometimes it sparkles with delightful surprises. An example of the latter is the recent election of Portia Simpson-Miller as leader of Jamaica's governing People's National Party and therefore as Prime Minister of the country. Ms. Simpson-Miller will become Jamaica's first woman PM.

She is the third woman to assume head of government in recent months, joining Michelle Bachelet, who will be inaugurated as President of Chile in March, and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who was elected President of Liberia last November.

Ms. Simpson-Miller, who has served in various capacities in government, has been described as, "an advocate for the poor, the dispossessed, the oppressed and all those who remain voiceless and faceless in the corridors of power." This suggests precisely the feminine influence governance everywhere requires much more of if Homo sapiens is ever to overcome poverty, war, disease and environmental degradation and put itself on the road to survival.

My heartiest congratulations to Prime Minister-designate Simpson-Miller and the People's National Party of Jamaica.