Bridgetown, Barbados - While Dominica, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago are among the countries in the Caribbean and Americas region where women ministers are nearing or exceeding the gender parity position of 30 per cent of representatives, the number of women in executive government and in parliament worldwide has stagnated.

UN Women MCO-Caribbean is supporting the Ministry of Social Transformation and Human Resource Development in Antigua and Barbuda, with the development of a database of beneficiaries for the country's main cash transfer programme for households living in poverty - the "Board of Guardians" programme.

As part of continued advocacy efforts around the recent launch of the UN Women flagship publication Progress of the World’s Women 2015-2016: Transforming Economies, Realizing Rights”, UN Women Regional Advisor Economic Empowerment – Elizabeth Villagomez Morales presented a copy to the Antigua and Barbuda Minister of Social Transformation, the Honourable Samantha Marshall.

Under a joint UN programme, UN Women, UNICEF and the OECS Commission are supporting national budget directors and finance officers from the Eastern Caribbean in conducting the gender analysis to design and cost measures, the outcome of which are budgets that are child and gender responsive.