Quotas for Womens Transformational Leadership and Participation in Jamaica

Kingston, Jamaica: The increase in numbers of female candidates in the recently held local elections in Jamaica and the national election last year have buoyed the confidences of the 51% Coalition that their advocacy and awareness efforts for an increase in womens representation is bearing fruit.

The "51% Coalition Development and Empowerment through Equity" is an alliance of women's organisations and individuals[1] that has been formed to increase the number of women on Boards of Management in the public and private sector as well as in the political sphere.

In her message for International Women's Day, Womens Resource and Outreach Centre (WROC) Board member Linnette Vassell explained that in the context of pressing for the implementation of the Jamaica National Policy on Gender Equality, the call is for quotas; for boards to have membership of no less that 40 per cent and no more than 60 per cent of either sex. A specific minimum target for women's representation is also a recommendation in the Consensus Document coming out of the 2011 Port of Spain Consensus on Transformational Leadership for Gender Equality[2].

Coalition member and Executive Director of the WROC, Dorothy Whyte explained that the Coalitions objectives meshes very well with the UN Women-funded WROC project "Quotas for Women's Transformational Leadership and Participation in Jamaica" which seeks to generate awareness around quotas as well as to develop a cadre of advocates and spokespersons to work across the island.

Ms. Whyte explained just after the December national election in January, the 51% Coalition wrote to the Prime Minister Portia Simpson in her capacity as Minister of Development, and also to the Ministers of Health, Industry, Labour & Social Security, Transport and Works and Education, advising of the names of 54 women who had been trained to serve effectively on Boards.

They were pleased to note that Coalition members were invited to serve on several Boards, including the Board for the Central Information Technology Organisation and as well of the appointment of Ms. Linnette Vassell to the Board of the Rural Agricultural Development Agency.

"Going through the Boards appointed thus far, we did an analysis of the persons appointed to serve on Boards and 24% are women& We realize that there won't be a minimum of 40% of women but despite that we also acknowledge that this time around there are more women being appointed to Public Sector Boards".

Ms. Whyte said a next step would be to submit the names of the women who have been trained to all the companies listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, to ensure appointments on private sector boards as well. Other activities included the presentation of a letter to the Jamaica Stock Exchange through the support of the President of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, Joseph Matalon, stressing that it was critical for more women to be represented on Boards of private sector companies.

The targeted training of women was conducted under the WROC project - "Strengthening Women's Leadership in Jamaica" - for 110 women of the middle strata and community leaders, who were willing and able to participate in the leadership of Boards, Commissions and organisations at all levels of society. These women were trained in finance; governance; and the genderisation of Boards including such facilitators as the Executive Director of the Private Sector of the Organisation of Jamaica, Sandra Glasgow.

In March of this year, in the capital Kingston, further capacity building was conducted with a focus on the legislation that governs Boards, the Public Accountability and Management Act, the general conduct of Board meetings, the principles of good governance, and an overview of Public Sector Framework.

Other trainings will be conducted for participants in the Ocho Rios, Mandeville and Montego Bay areas in the next few weeks. It is anticipated that these women will be advocating for increased womens participation at civil society and business organisations meetings.

In addition the Coalition will be seeking to meet with all the female elected members of Parliament and local government officials to among other areas of discussion "to encourage them to think in terms of gender in whatever issues they are discussing so that this is on the front burner". The Jamaica Women's Political Caucus also a member of the coalition, will be seeking to conduct a series of training with the women in Parliament.

In making a call for Quotas, the 51% Coalition explained that quotas are a first step to bring women to the table of decision-making:

"The main purpose of quotas is to recruit women into decision-making positions and to ensure that women do not remain as tokens in public and political life. They are the most effective way of moving towards gender balance and to strengthen the organization, voice and solidarity among women.

"In addition, through training, preparation and practical support, women will bring a new approach to the practice of leadership. This will ensure that women's gender interests in key national policy matters are addressed. These include poverty, unemployment, crime and violence, including gender-based violence and sexual abuse of our children, HIV/AIDS, lack of training and credit for business development, corruption and the continued decline of decent living standards in rural areas.

"Finally, quotas are central to the conversation about economic development, and to recognizing gender equality as smart economics"^[3], the group said in an official release.

The programme is anchored in the Womens Empowerment Principles- Equality Means Business a partnership initiative of UN Women and the UN Global Compact Office.

There has also been a positive response by young women to the advocacy work of the Coalition.  Members of the coalition - The Young Women's Leadership Initiative - have been conducting trainings at the University of The West Indies Mona Campus which last year saw a young woman elected to the Guild of Graduates, for the fifth time in history.  The young women who comprise The Young Women's Leadership Initiative were graduates of the third cohort of the Caribbean Institute of Women in Leadership (CIWiL) "Advancing Transformational Leadership Training Programme" in 2011.

From the launch through to the present, there has been significant uptake of the Coalition's efforts by the seven national radio stations and TV stations and the two main newspapers.

 

For further information, please contact the 51% Coalition at email: [ Click to reveal ] and 51% COALITION Development and Empowerment through Equity, 47 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5, and Telephone: (876) 929-8873; 960-9067 or Fax: (876) 968-9260.