Connect with us

Caribbean News

JAMAICA: Gender Ambassadors Programme to Promote Equality

Published

on

#Kingston, May 4, 2019 – Jamaica – The Gender Ambassadors Programme (GAP), launched recently as a pilot, is seeking to achieve mindset changes against antisocial attitudes, promote equality and encourage females to enter non-traditional careers.

The programme, which is a collaboration between the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, facilitates the raising of awareness and activism on gender equality in schools.

Its primary aim is to tackle several gender-based matters, including gender equality and equity, healthy relationships, child rights, discrimination, school-related gender-based violence, issues affecting boys, gender parity in decision-making, and leadership positions in educational institutions.

Student at the Spanish Town High School, in St. Catherine, Tianna Lawson, told JIS News that the GAP initiative has made her “very involved” in passing on to other students what is right about gender equality, and to “stop things that are not correct in school”.  Miss Lawson was attending the recent launch of the programme at The Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston.

For his part, Kayne Matthew Duncan, a student at St. Mary High School, said he had seen first-hand some of the issues that GAP is seeking to remedy, but had not paid much attention to them, noting that the programme has inspired him to “stand against hype and bad man tendencies”.

“That is what I want to change. I want the boys at my school to become men. We can grow together and follow our own goals instead of somebody else’s, and we will know how to respect women, and treat everyone as they should be,” he said.

Teacher at Westwood High School, in Trelawny, Yanique Martin, said GAP will be “very beneficial” to the all-female institution, in helping them to be empowered.

“The action plan that we are working on is to inform girls about male-dominated jobs such as engineering and becoming pilots,” she told JIS News.

Ms. Martin said many of the students want to venture into unusual careers, but they are afraid because it is suggested that only males can manage those areas.

“They are shying away from them and a programme like this can address a lot of issues in the society, and I am really happy that we were selected as one of the first schools,” she said.  She emphasised that GAP is relevant and necessary, “as we don’t want any gender to be dominating the other. It is equality that we need, so we want the men to stand up and the women to play their part”.

The Bureau of Gender Affairs has implemented the pilot programme with students from 11 secondary and seven tertiary institutions across the island to participate in the initiative.

Meanwhile, Portfolio Minister, Hon. Oliva Grange, said the skills gained by the students should be used to prevent violence at their schools.

“If you see someone being bullied in school, serve as a mediator, and this is going to test your skills. You have to be prepared to use your skills to mediate and to solve such problems. Be the best, and carry out what is expected of you in this programme,” the Minister told participants at the launch.

She added that the selected students will make useful changes in their schools and communities. “You have my commitment to work in partnership with my colleague Ministers to provide you with the necessary support, to inspire courage and hope as you take on this brave challenge of being GAP Ambassadors in your respective educational institutions,” Miss Grange said.

For his part, State Minister for Youth, Hon. Alando Terrelonge, said efforts will be made to promote leadership development, and respect across the gender divide.

“The programme also aims to engage the youth on what is gender-based violence (GBV) and ways to reduce the prevalence of GBV in Jamaica. It is intended to help our students appreciate that recognition and approval are found not only within gender norms and stereotypes, and to understand the real world effects of such thinking,” the State Minister said.

Mr. Terrelonge said the targeted students are expected to develop key character traits that underpin a well-rounded and confident identity that will support their educational attainment and healthy future beyond school.

“We are working towards covering a range of gender-focused topics, including healthy relationships and consent, gender stereotyping and resilience, and culture and positive masculinity. We aim for students to identify the impact of these topics,” he said.

Senior Acting Director at the Bureau of Gender affairs, Sharon Coburn Robinson, said students will also be exposed to proper use of social media in the programme.  She urged the students to stand against all forms of violence as “it is not okay to be violent at any place, at any point”.

“Violence is totally unacceptable, unappreciated and not to be tolerated at any point in your life cycle,” Ms. Coburn Robinson told the students.

By: Garfield L. Angus

Release: JIS

Photo Captions:

Header: Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange (fourth left), embraces student of St. Mary High School, Kayne Matthew Duncan (third left) at the launch of the Gender Ambassadors Programme (GAP), at The Knutsford Court hotel in New Kingston.  At right is Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Alando Terrelonge.

Insert: Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange (second right), and Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Alando Terrelonge (right), interact with students at the launch of the Gender Ambassadors Programme (GAP), at The Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston.

Photos by Michael Sloley  

Continue Reading

Caribbean News

CARPHA Progresses to Eligibility for the First Disbursement of Pandemic Funding

Published

on

Following a landmark Public Signing Ceremony for the Pandemic Fund (PF) Technical Cooperation Agreement (“Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Prevention, Preparedness, and Response” [RG-T4387] Project) on December 14, 2023, in Trinidad, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) continues to progress towards the start of implementation.

 CARPHA fulfilled the IDB’s nine conditions prior to first disbursement, achieving full eligibility on March 15, 2024, and is now eligible for the first disbursement. This milestone achievement in just 3 months after the signing speaks to the commitment of both CARPHA, the Executing Agency, and IDB, the Implementing Entity, toward the regional PF project with the objective of supporting the reduction of the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean by building pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR) surveillance & early-warning systems (EWS), laboratory systems and workforce capacity, regionally at CARPHA and in countries.

Since the signing of the Technical Cooperation Agreement and as part of the conditions prior to first disbursement, CARPHA has achieved the following key outputs (i) the development of the PF Project Operations Manual, Multi-annual Execution Plan, Procurement Plan, Financial Plan, Procedure for CARPHA’s Financial Reporting System; (ii) vacancy announcements for two tranches of consultants with the subsequent hiring of five (Technical Coordinator, Financial Specialist, Procurement Specialist, Operations Officer and Project Operations Coordinator) and (iii) the establishment of the Project Execution Unit (PEU) and Project Execution Steering Committee (PESC). The dedicated PEU will be responsible for execution according to its planned timelines, which will be led by the Dr. Lisa Indar, the Project Director (CARPHA’s Director of Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control Division).

 CARPHA, as the lead regional public health agency and an expression of Caribbean Cooperation in Health is mandated by its Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) to support its 26 CARPHA Member States (CMS) in bolstering national systems and coordinating regional response to public health threats. The Agency works closely with regional and international agencies and uses regional mechanisms, surveillance systems, and networks for coordinating its public health response work.

In July 2023, the PF Governing Board announced that CARPHA’s regional entity proposal, entitled ‘Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Strengthened Integrated Early Warning Surveillance, Laboratory Systems and Workforce Development’ was successfully selected for the first round of financing. It was one of only 19 proposals selected from over 300 submissions and the only regional project. The three priority areas in the proposal are: (i) Comprehensive disease surveillance and EWS, (ii) Laboratory systems and (iii) Human resources and public health and community workforce capacity.

This project is expected to begin implementation in March 2024, starting off with a blended onboarding session. A Stakeholder Meeting with countries is tentatively planned for July 2024.

CARPHA remains dedicated to working together with the IDB, CARPHA Member States and the Pandemic Fund to successfully implement the regional proposal geared toward reducing the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean.

Continue Reading

Caribbean News

Men who had Murdered Man, Marley Higgs’ cell phone face Court

Published

on

Wilkie Arthur

Freelance Court Correspondent

The prosecution intends to try two young North Caicos men, both age 21 for the offense of possession of property of a murdered man, property that was stolen and landed in their possession.

The phone belonged to Peureton ‘Marley’ Higgs, who is believed to have been an innocent gunned down at his apartment complex in the Glass Shack area in a spray of bullets on February 2 that killed another man and wounded two others, including a ten-year-old little girl.

The cell phone was described as white in colour, an iPhone, in a hard black case. 

On Monday, March 18th, JEFFVANO HANDFIELD of North Caicos pleaded not guilty to the offense, and the matter was adjourned to April 2024. He was granted bail in the matter.

A second North Caicos man was charged similarly.  

SARENO CAPELLAN aka, Kino Williams is the second individual brought before the court pertaining to the said cellphone. He appeared in court a week after JEFFVANO HANDFIELD, the date being Monday March 25th 2024.

The case for the Crown is that both men sometime in February of this year possessed the cellphone knowing or suspecting it to be stolen property.

Continue Reading

Caribbean News

Supreme Court Closed for Easter

Published

on

NOTICE is hereby given that the Easter Recess shall commence on Friday 29th April, 2024 and end on Friday 5th April, 2024. During the Easter Recess Judge Selochan will be available to deal only with matters that are urgent or require prompt attention.

Court Business During the Easter Recess

A person who wishes to have a matter heard during the recess must file a certificate of urgency along with an affidavit, which must set out the reasons why the matter is urgent or requires prompt attention. The matter will not be listed during the recess unless the Judge deems it fit for urgent hearing.

Opening Hours During the Easter Holiday

The Supreme Court’s last sitting day for the first term is Thursday 28th March, 2024. The Court will officially resume sittings on Monday 8th April, 2024. The Supreme Court Offices in both Grand Turk and Providenciales will continue to operate while the Court is not sitting during the recess.

The Court Office will be closed on the following public holidays:

  • Friday 29th March, 2024 (Good Friday) CLOSED
  • Monday 1st April, 2024 (Easter Monday) CLOSED

Continue Reading

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

TRENDING