The Gender Affairs Division within the Ministry of National Mobilisation, Social Development and Gender Affairs in collaboration with UN Women launched a national review of the Beijing Platform for Action +25.
Acting Coordinator in the Gender Affairs Division, La Fleur Quammie-Harry, said this year is the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action. Harry described the Beijing Platform for Action as a visionary agenda for the empowerment of all women.
She explained that the main aim of the stakeholder consultation is “to collect data and information from key stakeholders” towards the compilation of the 2018 report on gender equality status in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
At the end of today’s session, Harry disclosed, participants “would have a shared understanding of St. Vincent and the Grenadines gender equality priorities within the context of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and to understand the progress made on gender equality in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and also to understand the gaps”.
To this end, she encouraged stakeholders to provide input that would feed into the 2018 report. “We no longer want a report to leave St. Vincent without stakeholder participation – we need all persons to have an active input and to play an active part in any thing we do moving forward,” the Acting Coordinator in the Gender Affairs Division, Quammie-Harry emphasised.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Mobilisation, Social Development, Gender Affairs Nerissa Gittens-McMillan explained that the Beijing Platform for Action allows for persons to engage in dialogue for change to prevent and eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls.
McMillan said she is “truly grateful to UNWOMEN” for coming on board and sharing expertise in the person of Tonni Brodber. She told participants to make their contributions and thanked them for attending the session.
Deputy Representative, UN Women Caribbean office, Tonni Brodber, said the Caribbean had a very loud voice in what was put into the Beijing Declaration twenty-five years ago. “What we are trying to do today is to find out what does this mean for the women and girls in St. Vincent and their families”, Brodber stated.
The one-day national review of the Beijing Platform for Action +25 as it relates to St. Vincent and the Grenadines included discussions on this country’s development priorities, present findings, gains and gaps. It was launched at the Blue Lagoon conference room on Thursday, March 27th, 2019.
