CARICOM,UN-Women sign MOU on gender equality, empowerment

The United Nations Women and the Caribbean Community on Monday morning (January 09, 2017) at the Caricom Secretariat signed a Memorandum of Understanding concretizing the relationship between the two bodies and enhance the Regional data analysis on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals relating to gender dimensions.

UN Women Representative, Tonni Ann Brodher during the signing of the MOU with Caricom said it is clear that the region cannot afford the cost of gender-based violence.

“Thirty to fifty percent of all murders are intimate partner violence related….. [and] it is not just gender-based violence, but the fact that we are not tapping into the potentials of our young boys and young women,” she emphasised

Brodher underscored the importance of tapping into the potential of the region’s young boys and girls and expressed pleasure that Caricom is taking the lead in this regard.

She noted that this agreement seeks to ensure that there is a Caricom-wide voice in the normative process, shaping national levels of sustainable development as it relates to gender equality and the deepening capacities of theCaricom member states’ in implementing international, regional and national commitments, such as the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Violence Against Women.

The Representative said it is the hope of UN Women that the initiatives under this agreement are not only theoretical but become a “living reality that the women and men of the Caribbean enjoy.”

Caricom Secretary-general Ambassador Irwin LaRocque in brief remarks said Caricom’s efforts in the area of Gender equality have somewhat been stymied over the years due to lack of financing, however, he expressed gratitude to Canada for its support through the provision of a gender consultant to the Caricom Secretariat to help bridge that gap.

The MOU would be implemented in partnership with other developmental partners wherever possible.