Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Barbados: National Gender Policy To Be Developed

While Canada slips in the world-wide rankings of gender-equity, the Bureau of Gender Affairs is working on a national gender policy.
Explaining that gender mainstreaming sought to integrate its perspective into all policies, programmes and activities, Dr. Byer Suckoo (Minister of Youth, Family and Sports) said the strategy had many successes. She highlighted the work of the National HIV/AIDS Commission in this regard, when it moved HIV/AIDS out of the single sector of health, and developed a multi-sectoral response that heightened awareness of the disease in the planning and programmes of all ministries and sectors.

She lamented that some people, even at the policy-making level in this country, were not aware of gender equity and its significance. "Some will argue about the relevance of the gender agenda in a 21st century in Barbados, when compared with some African, Eastern European and Middle Eastern countries, where women's rights are not as advanced.


Maybe we should be looking to the Caribbean for our gender equity strategies?

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