THEY shocked, awed and amazed, and one in particular helped in the coining of the phrase 'ah woman time now'. In 2006, women were at the forefront of every sector imaginable, making the news and showing that many times they were right up there on par with the men.

From Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller locally, to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the international scene, 2006 was the year for women. Here are some of those who made the news in 2006, women who will continue to make strides in 2007.

1. Condoleezza Rice
Rice is the 66th United States Secretary of State, and the second in the administration of President George W Bush to hold the office. She is the first black woman, second African-American and second woman (after Madeleine Albright) to serve as Secretary of State.
In 2004 and 2005, she was ranked as the most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine and number two in 2006.

She is also one of only two African-Americans to have been repeatedly ranked among the world's 100 most influential people by Time magazine.
Recent polls show Rice as the most popular person in the Bush Cabinet (some 59 per cent of Americans hold a favourable view of her as against some 29 per cent for President Bush).

2. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was elected to the office of president in Liberia allowing Africa its first woman president. Despite the fact that polls leading up to the elections had Johnson-Sirleaf neck and neck with her main rival, former football star George Weah, she captured most of the votes on election day. She is only the second black woman head of state in the world following Eugenia Charles of Dominica. She is often referred to as the "Iron Lady".

3. Portia Simpson Miller
She replaced PJ Patterson, becoming Jamaica's first female head of government and the third in the Anglophone Caribbean following Eugenia Charles of Dominica and Janet Jagan of Guyana. She also holds the position of president of the PNP.
Since being elected prime minister, Simpson Miller has been promoting herself as a mother figure who will be caring and compassionate; a unifying force that can bring Jamaicans from all walks of life to focus on nation-building and self-empowerment.

4. Michelle Bachelet
Socialist paediatrician Michelle Bachelet, who suffered prison, torture and exile under Chile's military dictatorship, was sworn in as the nation's first female president in March.
The 54-year-old president is a separated mother of three and is the first directly elected Latin American leader who didn't rise to power with the help of a powerful husband. She has promised to bring more women into Chilean politics.

5. Althea Beverly
Recognised as the Most Outstanding Parent of the Year by the Ministry of Education and Youth, Beverly is raising nine children in the inner city community of Southside.
She has taken a number of odd jobs to keep food on the table and ensures that her children attend school, furnishing all aspects of their education.
In a community fraught with violence, Beverly stresses that she wants upliftment for her children.
Her friends call her 'strong', but she says it is just 'faith' and a close-knit family that keeps her going.
And while she continues to care for her nine children, Beverly says she has no intention of abandoning her own educational development and has participated in a number of computer, English and Math classes sponsored by GraceKennedy, which plays an active role as a corporate citizen in the area.

6. Audetta McCLure
Cosmetology teacher Audetta McClure outperformed thousands of candidates from all over the world in the London-based City and Guilds Level-3 advanced diploma hairdressing course for the 2005-2006 examination period. For her outstanding performance, she was awarded a gold medal for excellence.

She excelled in all aspects of the programme, achieving distinctions and gaining the highest mark globally. McClure's success is considered significant given that the 128-year-old institution operates in close to 100 countries, through 8,500 worldwide centres offering over 500 qualifications in 28 industry areas. She is the second Jamaican in recent time to have copped the top award in the world. In 2004, Hugh Small of Brown's Town Community College gained top marks in construction technology at the diploma level.

McClure, who hails from Carron Hall in St Mary, and who pursued an extensive theoretical and practical programme including hairstyling techniques and design, safety and security in the salon, health maintenance, customer service and financial management, specialised in Afro-Caribbean hairdressing.

7. Nadiya Figueroa
She is the 2006 recipient of the Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford University in England. Figueroa was one of seven shortlisted Jamaican students for the Rhodes Scholarship. The 24-year-old graduated from Campion College before attending Stanford University in California. She plans to pursue development studies at Oxford and wants to bring Jamaicans together and help develop the nation.
8. Judith Townsend

The 75-year-old was named the Child Development Agency's Foster Parent of the Year in March, having touched the lives of 15 children over the years. For over 40 years, she helped wards of the state at her home in Darliston, Westmoreland, acting as mother, friend and helper, a job she says she'll keep until she passes. There are currently more than 3,500 children in Jamaica in need of foster care.

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