Regional Masculinity and Gender Equality workshops reach Jamaica

“It is a well-established fact that improved relations between women and men cannot be achieved by the efforts of women alone – men must be integral to the development process to ensure that the concerns of men are fully integrated into the development process.” These were some of the sentiments expressed by Jamaica’s Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, to the Opening Ceremony of a regional workshop on ‘Rethinking Masculinity: Understanding Gender Equality As A Means of Ending Gender-Based Violence in Caribbean Schools’,  at the Courtyard Marriott in Kingston, Jamaica, 26-27 September 2019.“ The Minister commended the CARICOM Secretariat for the partnership with the Jamaica Bureau of Gender Affairs to host the two-day workshop.

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Minister Grange told the meeting: “The men can’t do without us [women], and we can’t do without the men. It’s a partnership and we have to work together.”  She said despite the achievements in reducing the gaps between males and females in various social sectors, inequalities continue to plague the Jamaican society. She cited several issues of grave concerns including high rates of violence amongst males, high rates of absentee fathers, and male under-representation in the economic and educational sectors. These, she stated, require urgent attention.

Jamaica is the third of five CARICOM Member States to benefit from a CARICOM Secretariat and 10th European Development Fund (10th EDF) CARIFORUM Project called, Support for Crime and Violence Prevention and Social Development Collaboration, which seeks to change the narrative around perceptions of both masculinity and gender equality towards ending violence in schools and taking a proactive approach to improving regional policy directives in education planning and instruction. This initiative resulted from recommendations coming out of a 2012 CARICOM Secretariat commissioned ‘Youth Masculinity and Violence Report’, and will be addressed through regional workshops targeting education professionals along with civil society actors, gender and development practitioners and faith-based leaders – both men and women.

Deputy Programme Manager, Gender and Development, at the CARICOM Secretariat, Ms. Ann-Marie Williams said the workshops are tailored to improve and strengthen, where possible, the relationship between male and female students in schools and in the wider society, by equipping them with a battery of essential soft skills that males are not typically socialized in, because they are seen as diametrically opposed to masculinity. She added that there will be follow-up with the teachers of the schools which were surveyed to see exactly how they are building that culture of peace, and she thanked the EU for funding this much needed initiative.

The Government of Jamaica’s Medium-Term Socio-Economic Policy Framework indicates that there are increased concerns for males who have been labelled by some members of academia and the policy directorate, as “marginalized”. It is against this background that the Bureau of Gender Affairs, in collaboration with various Stakeholders, has put into effect, several sensitization initiatives, along with skills training, capacity building, and intervention aimed at addressing issues which affect men and boys.

Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Jamaica, Ambassador Malgorzata Wasilewska  told the meeting that the intersection between men, masculinity and gender equality is especially visible when it comes to inter-personal violence, noting that men are the main victims of physical violence, while women mostly suffer sexual violence.

The Ambassador further added that the European Union is looking forward to the findings of the research in order to determine what can be done to address the challenges that exist in the Region, which will benefit from some 50 million Euros of support over an eight year period, with eight million being allocated to Jamaica.

In her closing remarks, Minister Olivia Grange thanked the Stakeholders and Participants, and urged that they all continue to collaborate and do everything in their collective power to ensure that all citizens are able to achieve their full potential as active participants in Jamaica’s social, cultural and economic development. She concluded with a call to action by repeating the mantra “Wheh de man dem deh?” to the resounding response by the male participants, “Man deh yah!”

Belize and Suriname are the next two CARICOM Member States to benefit from these workshops, which are being facilitated by Gender and Education Consultant, Professor Barbara Bailey, who is a CARICOM Triennial Award Recipient; and Clinical Psychologist and Founder of CARIMan, Dr. Peter D. Weller. So far, three workshops have been conducted in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Jamaica under the guidance of Ms. Ann-Marie Williams.

Source: CARICOM TODAY