Bahamas Minister attends Regional Consultation on Beijing+25

#Barbados – February 13, 2020 — Minister of Social Services and Urban Development, the Hon. Frankie A. Campbell, joined regional Ministers and senior government officials from around the Caribbean in Barbados for a Regional Consultation “on building a Coordinated position for Caribbean negotiations on Beijing+25.”

Held February 10-11 in Bridgetown, the Regional Consultation was sponsored by UN Women, ParlAmericas, the University of the West Indies’ Institute for Gender and Development Studies, Nita Barrow Unit, Mona Campus, Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWIL) and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.

Minister Campbell was accompanied to Barbados by: Dr. Jacinta Higgs, Director of the Department of Gender and Family Affairs, Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development and Ms. Vechenda Roberts, Education Officer, the Department of Gender and Family Affairs, Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development. The delegation also included Mrs. Arinthia Komolafe, Leader of the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) and Mrs. Charlene Paul, President of CIWIL Bahamas.

Minister Campbell and the delegation attended the session as guests of ParlAmericas. The delegation’s tickets, travel and accommodations, were provided by ParlAmericas.  Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, ParlAmericas is composed of 35 National Legislatures from North, Central and South America and the Caribbean.

The Barbados Meeting was being held on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women & the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and ahead of the 64th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW64) scheduled for the United Nations Headquarters, New York, USA, March 9-20.

Representatives from eleven Caribbean Community countries are attending the Sessions, among them, The Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados (host country), Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago.

 Adopted at the United Nation’s Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, China, 1995), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BDPA), is considered the most progressive blueprint ever for advancing women’s rights. An agenda for women’s empowerment, it aims at removing all of the obstacles to women’s active participation in all spheres of public and private life through ensuring women a full and equal share in economic, social, cultural and political decision-making.

The Declaration and Platform for Action affirms that equality between women and men is a matter of human rights and a condition for social justice. It is also what global officials say “is a necessary and fundamental prerequisite for equality, development and peace,” and covers twelve areas, among them, Women and poverty, Education and training of women, Women and health, Violence against women, Women and the economy, and women in power and decision-making, among others.

“The purpose of the conference was to have CARICOM come together and put in place its final strategies for CSW64. The theme is building a coordinated position for Caribbean negotiations on Beijing+25,” Minister Campbell said Monday at the conclusion of the Opening Session.

“It has been 25 years since the Beijing Declaration and Plan of Action and we sought to take this opportunity to determine advances made; to look back at the past, consider where we are now, and determine where we want to be as a Caribbean bloc.

“The delegation from The Bahamas fully participated in the lively discussions. We are in search of best practices and bench marking that we are able to come back home and implement. We are being reminded of our need for good data collection so that our programmes and projects will be data- driven in order for us be in a better position to show the impact of our programmes and projects,” Minister Campbell added.

Minister of Social Services and Urban Development, the Hon. Frankie A. Campbell, with members of the Bahamian delegation attending the Regional Consultation on Building a coordinated position for Caribbean negotiations on Beijing+25 held February 10-11 in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Pictured seated from left: Miss Vechenda Roberts, Education Officer, Department of Gender and Family Affairs, Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development and Mrs. Arinthia Komolafe, Leader, Democratic National Alliance. Pictured standing from left: Miss Dwina Higgs, delegation assistant, Mrs. Charlene Paul, President, CIWIL Bahamas, and Dr. Jacinta Higgs, Director, Department of Gender and Family Affairs, Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development.