Investing in the inclusion of women and girls in political processes and leadership directly benefits economic growth, good governance and participatory democracy. This week, the Commonwealth Secretariat in partnership with Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWiL) and UN Women is holding a three-day workshop in Bridgetown, Barbados on ‘Leadership for Good Governance and Social Transformation in the Caribbean’ focusing on women’s empowerment in the region.

Under the EnGenDER Project, UN Women is aiming to conduct a Geospatial Analysis on Gender-Based Violence (GBV), Poverty and Climate Change Impacts. Proposals are invited from companies/firms outlining the methodology for gender analysis data for the design of a model for geospatial mapping of GBV and climate hazard impacts. The firm is also expected to train senior technical officers from EnGenDER beneficiary countries on the design and application of the model for geospatial mapping of GBV and climate hazard impacts.

Dr. Ronya Foy Connor is the National Gender Development Coordinator in the Ministry of Social Development and Education in the Government of Anguilla. As a woman in public leadership and academic, Dr Foy Connor is strategically positioned to challenge gender inequalities in all forms.

The 66th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66)—the second largest UN intergovernmental meeting in New York—closed its two-week long session today (14 to 25 March) acknowledging the important role of women and girls as agents of change for sustainable development, in particular safeguarding the environment and addressing the adverse effects of climate change.

Evidence of women’s increased vulnerability is in the pre-existing social and cultural demands on women and girls as primary caregivers with the imbalanced responsibilities for care of the elderly, children and the sick. This care work increases in the immediate aftermath of a disaster and continues long after.

UN Women and the CARICOM Secretariat recently held preparatory meetings ahead of CSW66 – “Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes”.

Development of a Rapid Gender Analysis that aims to provide humanitarian actors with recommendations to address the needs of women and girls to ensure their rights and needs are at the core of recovery and reconstruction efforts.

This past year, the COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted the tourism and hospitality sector – one of the key economic drivers of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – due to border closures or restricted movement. This economic shock also extended to craft traders, many of whom are responsible for their families’ livelihoods and are women. What did this mean for those whose livelihoods were reliant on tourist arrivals?

As the country remains in a state of national emergency, UN Women, along with its national partners and the entire UN and international cooperation system, joins the efforts in response to the earthquake. Immediate humanitarian support, protection of rights, food security and early recovery are the priorities for women's organizations and Haitian women.

The UN Women Multi-Country Office Caribbean is seeking to contract an Institute to provide virtual Gender-Responsive Disaster Risk Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation Training for at least 50 Senior Technical Officers in selected priority areas in nine Caribbean Countries in the period August to December 2021.

UN Women will host the first all-Black, all-women global selling exhibition and auction titled “A Force for Change”, with proceeds benefiting Black women across the world and the participating artists. The exhibition will be open to the public in New York City from 27 to 31 July 2021, with an online auction hosted on Artsy from 16 to 30 July 2021, closing at 2pm EDT.

Across the Caribbean, there are millions of girls who could right now be learning from home – if only they were connected. On International Girls in ICT Day, we encourage governments not to leave these girls behind.

Against the backdrop of a global pandemic, world leaders issued today a strong pledge for women’s full and effective participation and decision-making in public life and the elimination of violence at the closing of the 65th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW65), as the countdown for the Generation Equality Forum in Mexico (29 - 31 March) begins.

Justice Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds, a judge in Trinidad and Tobago, is a champion for gender-sensitive adjudication, raising awareness and sharing her knowledge around the world. She talks about how support at home and mentorship from other judges played a crucial role in her success.

UN Women is intensifying its preparations for the 2021 Generation Equality Forum amidst a back-drop that shows women’s rights and leadership are under threat, and even more exacerbated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Current projections show that gender equality in the highest positions of power will not be reached for another 130 years. This year’s International Women’s Day rings the alarm on rising threats to gender equality and highlights the need to build back better for a more gender-equal future.

UN Women and UNDP’s newly launched COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker shows the social protection and jobs response to the pandemic has largely overlooked women’s needs.

Six months on, since the Category 5 hurricane battered the small island nation, UN Women assessment shows what women want is assistance to get back on their feet and back to work, not handouts.

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.

Statement by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women

Too often there is a misunderstanding that gender responsive governance is governance specific only to women’s rights and needs. UN Women MCO Caribbean, Deputy Representative Tonni Brodber recently facilitated a training session for ParlAmericas’ Anglophone membership on applying gender and intersectionality to parliamentary work.