In 2011, an edutainment project was undertaken by the CARICOM Secretariat with support from UN Women, which brought together Caribbean Artists from Belize, Guyana and Suriname in a three-day workshop in Suriname to use their creativity in the production of public campaign material on gender based violence. These artists came together to add their voices to the global campaign led by the United Nations Secretary-General, to end violence against women.
Parliamentarians from across the Caribbean met in Jamaica November 9-10, 2011 for a Regional Consultation of Parliamentarians on Preventing Gender-based Violence under the theme “Building Political Will to End Gender-Based Violence.” The objectives of the meeting were to increase awareness of gender based violence and violence against women among parliamentarians and to build political will among them to take actions to end this violation of human rights.
Ladies and Gentlemen, good afternoon_ Let me on behalf of the UN Women Regional Programme Director (RPD) Ms. Roberta Clarke, extend our sincere appreciation to the Government of Suriname, to the Representatives of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Culture present today for your partnering with UN Women and CARICOM Secretariat for the hosting of this workshop, which we expect will be a very engaging and significant stimulus in our efforts to end gender based violence.
I am honored to be appointed as the CARICOM Advocate for Gender Justice. Gender is about both men and women and it is fitting that this initiative is launched on March 8th, International Day of Women. This may seem to be a contradiction, but it is not. Women have always been in the forefront of the struggle for equality, justice and peace for all. However, because of gender inequality, their contribution is often neither recognized nor remembered. How many of you present today know of the work of our own Claudia Jones?
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Director of Human and Social Development in the CARICOM Secretariat, Myrna Bernard is advocating for formal education on Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
In a presentation to the two-day meeting of the Bureau of Women’s/Gender Affairs in Georgetown, Guyana on Wednesday, Ms Bernard told gender directors and coordinators that they should consider more seriously the introduction of GBV in the Health and Family Life Education curriculum, a curriculum which was intended to address violence in the schools context.
I am very pleased to be here this morning to participate in the opening session of this meeting of Experts of the Caribbean Sub-Region on Violence against Women, and I wish to thank the organizers for giving me the opportunity to make a few brief remarks on this occasion.
