TRIBUTE TO MRS. VIOLA BURNHAM From Angela King, United Nations Mrs. Viola Burnham of Guyana will long be remembered by women of her  country and on the international scene as one of the Caribbean's leading  women in public life. As wife, mother, teacher, social development planner, women's rights activist  and politician, she reacted to the inequalities in her society which, over a half  a century, was transformed from colony to Republic. In the Caribbean, a great awakening of political consciousness and basic  human rights started in the 1930s when Viola was a young girl. By the 1970s,  this movement had grown to fruition with women not only thinking about their rights but seriously creating and implementing programmes which would make  this a reality. Viola Burnham was at the forefront of this movement. Along with  Nita Barrow (Barbados), Lucille Mair (Jamaica), Eugenia Charles (Dominica),  Peggy Antrobus (Barbados), Hazel Brown (Trinidad & Tobago) and others,  she made her mark beyond the Caribbean. She participated actively in shaping  the outcome of the First World Conference on Women held in Mexico City in 1975  and in subsequent women's meetings of the United Nations. Not only did Mrs. Burnham make an outstanding contribution to women's rights  on behalf of her country, but as Vice-President of Guyana and leader of the women’s  arm of the Peoples National Congress (PNC), she embraced women's groups and  non-governmental organizations and with thier collaboration put into action many  programmes and projects to empower women and girls economically thus enabling  them to have a real voice in national and local politics. Viola Burnham is remembered not only in the Caribbean, but universally for her  commitment, her leadership, her vision and her humanity and her solidarity with  other women in the Third World. Angela E. V. King Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women United Nations. 10 October 2003