Every 8th March the Seychellois nation proudly joins the rest of humankind to commemorate International Women's Day. It is fitting that we celebrate the economic, political and social progress of the Seychellois women, and the achievements of our sisters all over the world.

International Women's Day also provides us with moments of reflection, moments to ponder on the future, how to get there and how connected we are with today's reality.  In Seychelles, our best investment is in the education of all our girls and boys. They will build the future.

This year's theme is "Connecting girls, inspiring futures". Our population is fed, clothed, housed and educated. However, in this day and age, successful development requires the meeting of higher strategic needs so that each individual girl, boy, woman and man can attain individual goals through own efforts.

Greater networking and connectivity will facilitate the linking of women and girls on common interests for gender responsive planning. In today's world we are one click away from being connected to the rest of the world. We must ensure that this is used to our benefit and not detriment. The survival of our humanity is dependent on our ability to connect to our family, our community, our country, our global village and ourselves.

Connectivity is the key to our future. Government will continue to facilitate the development of modern communication for the blossoming of all our communities. Connectivity in empowering girls and young women will surely add a bigger collective dimension to the worldwide march towards gender equality.

On behalf of the people and government I thank you, the women of Seychelles, for your immense contribution in the building of our country, your central role in the family, and caring for our nation. The nation values greatly the role of women in our victories.   I take this occasion to reassure the people that in Seychelles we will always ensure that each individual -- girl and boy, woman and man -- has the same opportunities to develop.

We wish the women a joyous commemoration and success in the activities organised for the occasion. Happy International Women's Day!

May God continue to protect you and our families.