Brief Remarks By the SECRETARY-GENERAL CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY (CARICOM) Ambassador Irwin LaRocque on the Occasion of the Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding On GENDER EQUALTY AND THE EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN Georgetown, Guyana 9 January 2017 I want to thank the United Nations, through its Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) for coming forward to assist the Secretariat and the Community to strengthen its support for issues related to Gender. It is particularly significant for us, given that challenges with financial resources have hampered us in our quest to fill a number of crucial positions, including in the area of Gender. I must acknowledge the assistance of the Government of Canada who, for a period of time, provided a Gender Consultant to the Secretariat to help bridge the gap.
The CARICOM Secretariat and UN-Women have been collaborating for more than twenty years. Our most recent MOU (2010-2013) supported, among other things, the functioning of the First Caribbean Community Advocate for Gender Justice, Dr Rosina Wiltshire. Dr Wiltshire’s studies and her advocacy continue to be of immense importance to the Region. Her report on Youth, Masculinities, and Violence has provided CARICOM with much needed evidence to evolve its programming around masculinities as a key strategy for the eradication of gender-based violence. Today’s MOU will allow for support to the CARICOM Regional Gender Programme and the work of the CARICOM Regional Statistics Programme. It includes collaboration in the provision of Caribbean-wide data, statistics and analysis on the implementation of the gender dimensions of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action known as the SAMOA Pathway. Some of the work will focus on developing model legislation and regionally-specific tools to address behavior change to tackle the root causes of Gender-Based Violence and in ensuring strong, evidenced-based advocacy. The MOU will be implemented in partnership with other international and regional development partners, wherever appropriate. Once again I want to thank the UN system for its continuing role in assisting the development of our Member States and in advancing the work of the Secretariat.
