CARICOM Salutes Regional Women

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, March 8, 2017 (CMC) – The Guyana-based Caribbean Community (CARICOM) today, said while there have been significant strides in gender equality in the region, there’s still a need for much more to be done.

In a message marking International Women’s Day, CARICOM said the theme for the occasion “#BeBoldForChange” is a “clarion call for all citizens of our region and the world, to play their part in forging more gender-inclusive, just societies”.

It noted, for example, the recent 20-year review of the Beijing Platform for Action in 2015, which highlighted some areas of progress, related to gender equality and empowerment of women in the Caribbean region.

It said these included new legislation to address gender-based violence; women’s increased participation and achievement at secondary and tertiary levels of education; increased representation of women in governments, particularly in the public service; and reduced maternal mortality and the spread of HIV.

“However, persistent challenges in enforcing the principles of equality and non-discrimination were highlighted in several areas important to the development of our region,” CARICOM said, noting that these included women’s full participation in paid employment, as wage discrimination persists with women earning, on average, 19 percent less than men, and that governance remains tilted in favour of male leadership in the public and private sectors.

It said gender-based violence continues with great intensity and impacts on the health, social and economic well-being of families, particularly women and children.

CARICOM added that over the past four decades, member states have made legally binding commitments through various conventions and agreements to fulfil obligations related to human rights, gender equality and the empowerment of women.

“These include the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

“The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs) recognizes, in profound ways, that the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls is crucial for targeted world progress, towards poverty eradication and, indeed, represents a call for the world to #BeBoldForChange.”

It said that many CARICOM countries have taken ‘bold steps’ to enact legislation to promote the rights of women in conformance with the CEDAW Convention and based on CARICOM Model Legislation in eight areas, namely citizenship, domestic violence, equality for women in employment, equal pay, sexual harassment and sexual offences, inheritance, maintenance and maintenance orders.

Several countries have also introduced national gender policies to guide the work of the national gender machineries and mainstream gender across the work of government, it added.

It said being ‘Bold for Change’ signals the need for deliberate steps by all to realise gender equality.

“As a community, let us redouble our efforts, men and women, boys and girls, to embrace that bolder and more transformative agenda with strong partnerships among government, the private sector and civil society. The time for your advocacy and activism, is now,” CARICOM added.