Caribbean News
Violence against women in Jamaica condemned by Minister
#Jamaica – January 16, 2020 — Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, has condemned the recent acts of violence against women.
“I join with my fellow Jamaicans to express outrage that there are misguided persons who believe that the lives of our women can be arbitrarily snatched away just like that,” she said.
“These killings re-enforce the need for more sensitisation on the ground as to why there is no excuse for abuse, as well as why we have to, every one of us, continue building more safe spaces for women, so that they can safely transition to normalcy on fleeing toxic relationships,” Ms. Grange added.
The Minister was delivering a Statement in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (January 14).
Gender-based violence can be perpetrated in many forms, such as psychological, physical, sexual and economic.
Ms. Grange noted that it is a reflection of the culture of violence and silence and is reinforced by various structural and systemic inequalities in the home, in socio-economic systems and systems of justice.
“The issue of gender-based violence is considered to be a complex characterisation, as its private nature can sometimes reduce the likelihood of the victim or witness to report, and oftentimes leads to unfortunate cases of lives being lost, almost lost or individuals being injured,” she explained.
The police have reported 34 murders in the first 11 days of this year and these include some of the productive women and girls who are the backbone of the society.
Ms. Grange further appealed for persons to utilise the Domestic Violence Intervention Centres operated by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), which were created to deal with domestic violence.
The Centres offer professional counselling, referrals to appropriate agencies, follow-ups with clients and credible and reliable information. Counselling is provided by trained and certified volunteer counsellors and chaplains who are trained in handling domestic violence matters.
The Minister also assured the public that the Government has continued to pursue legislative solutions for enhanced security measures and will intensify the ‘No Excuse For Abuse’ public education campaign, to ensure that the “scourge of gender-based violence is treated with urgent attention and strong operational measures”.
“I wish to appeal to persons who are involved in situations of conflict, to seek the necessary counselling and psychosocial support. Too often these situations result in acts of violence and are often life-threatening and rob our families of hard-working and productive community members,” she added.
Meanwhile, Ms. Grange informed that the Bureau of Gender Affairs’ Community Liaison Branch conducts outreach activities to address the social issues affecting the public.
This, she said, is facilitated through the community intervention programmes undertaken across the 14 parishes.
“We do human service providers training sessions. These sessions target persons who work with individuals, families and communities who may directly or indirectly experience gender-based violence. These professionals include social workers, police officers, nurses, doctors, health aids, among others,” she noted.
From 2018 to 2019, some 23 human service provider sessions were facilitated. A total of 889 individuals were sensitised, 620 females and 269 males.
In addition, students are equipped with skills to mitigate and prevent various forms of school-related gender-based violence.
During the period of 2018 to 2019, some 2,388 students (1,643 females and 745 males) were sensitised.
PRESS RELEASE, JIS, JANUARY 15, 2020
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, March 17, 2023 – Revenue from the Turks and Caicos’ Financial Services Sector will more than double in the next few years, if E Jay Saunders, Deputy Premier and Finance Minister gets his way. It ‘s one of the reasons the country is investing so much capital into getting off of the EU blacklist and becoming a secure trustworthy financial destination.
“The FSC’s revenues for 2020/21 was $10.5M— the figures for 2021/22, would be about similar,” he said. He further explained that $10.5 million from the FSC represented about 2.6 percent of the country’s 408.5-million-dollar
revenue. Though it increased to $14 million in the 2021/22 financial year, finance is still a small fry compared to tourism or even stamp duties but that will change, says Saunders.
“My revenue goal for the Government by the year 2029 [or] the election after the next election – is $500M. By that time, I want the financial sector (FSC) revenues to represent at least 5% ($25M). So that’s my goal for the financial sector by 2029.”
This goal, should it be met, would increase the Government’s revenue by 100 million dollars, a significant increase in spending power for local upgrades and improvements for Turks and Caicos residents and visitors.
Saunders says it’s time for the TCI to diversify its sources of revenue to make sure that what happened in the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw residents out of a job for months, will not happen again. Tourism now makes up around 80 percent of the country’s GDP. The Minister of Finance wants to push that down to 60 or even 50 percent.
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#Haiti, March 17, 2023 – When a CARICOM delegation visited Haiti earlier this month, conspicuously absent was the Turks and Caicos Islands despite being one of the nations most directly affected by the multi-dimensional crisis there. There is no comment, as yet from the Premier, to say why this was the case.
Still, from the expedition, CARICOM heads of Government have informed that there will be lobbying in Africa for assistance in Haiti. They say they have decided that the best course of action for the Caribbean country is to bolster the Haitian National Police and act as intermediaries with Africa and the world. The decision follows a one day visit on February 27th, and a March 5th meeting chaired by the Bahamas.
CARICOM says during the trip delegates ‘met with a broad range of Haitian stakeholders to hear their views on the
way forward to a Haitian-led solution’. With that in mind it has made a decision on how to proceed.
“The Heads of Government agreed to support the Haitian National Police in their efforts to address the security situation. The focus of the Community will be the provision of training for the HNP and the provision of humanitarian assistance to HNP and the wider Haitian society, taking into account the challenging humanitarian and security situation”
It’s not clear yet where and how this training will take place. Also distinctly absent from the report, no more mention of boots on the ground from other countries despite CARICOM Member States indicating they were ready and willing should it come to that.
In addition, recognizing ‘the common historical experiences and the strong African-Caribbean relationship’ CARICOM says,
“Heads of Government also agreed to seek support from African countries for Haiti. They also agreed to work with the Governments of Canada and the United States as well as the UNDP”
Magnetic Media has reached out to the Premier’s Office to get a full debrief of the February 27th visit (led by Jamaica; including The Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago) to learn of Turks and Caicos’ posture following the critical sessions.
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, March 17, 2023 – Musicians from the New World Symphony will be in the Turks and Caicos in concert next month and residents are invited to attend in support of the future of Ashley’s Learning Center. 
A fairly young orchestral academy based in Miami, the New World Symphony was launched in the 1980s by 1987, Michael Tilson Thomas and Ted Arison,Carnival Cruises founder. From the 1500 applicants who vie for a spot each year, the symphony accepts around 35 music graduates annually for training fellowships.
A select few of those graduates will be in country on April 8th headlining at the Ashley’s Learning Center concert ‘We’re all in this together’. The concert which also feature local artistes will be held at Brayton Hall on Venetian Road from 6 pm to 8:30 pm
Tickets are available ON ISLEHELP $75 PER GENERAL SEAT $125 PER PREMIUM SEAT $195 PER GALLERY SEAT – with /FREFRESHMENTS.
For TICKET RESERVATIONs you can call: 649-341-2304 or email EVENTS@ASHLEYSLEARNINGCENTER.ORG
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