This three-day event, held from December 4-6, 2024, brought together parliamentarians, civil society representatives, and experts from 11 Caribbean countries. Organized by ParlAmericas, the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago, UN Women Multi-Country Office (MCO) - Caribbean, and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the workshop aimed to enhance parliamentarians' capacity to adopt an inclusive and gender-responsive approach to their legislative responsibilities

Saint Lucia's first-ever National Inter-Agency Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response (GBV) Task Force was officially launched on December 13, 2024, following a Cabinet Conclusion on November 11 which emphasized the urgency of addressing Gender-based violence (GBV) as a matter of national concern

St. Vincent and Grenadines with the support of the Global Affairs Canada-funded Build Back Equal Project has established the first national inter-agency GBV task force to drive coordination of essential service providers and key stakeholders for GBV data analysis and GBV case management in a systematic and collaborative manner, as well as guide national GBV prevention efforts and foster better coordination of both state and non-state actors

On a recent visit to Grenada, Tonni Brodber, Representative for the UN Women MCO - Caribbean presented tablets and software for land and agri-fisheries business registry online help desks which were developed and the tablets furnished under the Joint UN Trust Fund for Human Security, a project funded by the Government of Japan

"The struggle for gender equality is deeply entwined with the fight against the legacies of slavery"

The “Vulnerable Population Response for Bahamas Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Agencies Program” is a three-year initiative which will be implemented in collaboration with a wide range of justice stakeholders locally. The program is designed to prioritize access to justice for marginalized populations, enhance redress and support mechanisms for survivors and victims of violence, and provide long-term rehabilitation support for perpetrators.

This year’s IWD theme was a significant opportunity to highlight the expanse of projects, countries, partners and thematic areas the MCO Caribbean covers across its geographic mandate of 22 countries and territories in the Dutch and English-speaking Caribbean. Here is a brief highlight of the activities surrounding IWD where UN Women MCO Caribbean facilitated, collaborated and participated in.

Roslyn Williams-George is a climate change activist in Trinidad and Tobago and president of the Cashew Gardens Community Council. Roslyn speaks out on the climate crisis in Trinidad and Tobago and how women are taking the reins of waste management in her community.

Ten women entrepreneurs in the agribusiness sector in Jamaica received stipends valued at $100,000 Jamaica Dollars to scale their businesses under the Women’s Entrepreneurship Support (WES) Project. The stipends were financed through the Enabling Gender-Responsive Disaster Recovery, Climate and Environmental Resilience in the Caribbean (EnGenDER) Project, a project funded by the Government of Canada and UK FCDO, which is UNDP-led with co-implementation by UN Women, WFP and CDEMA.

“COVID-19 brought about virtual change and we were not ready…the training helped us to make the change.” ~Training Participant. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and its pervasive socio-economic impacts, women across the Caribbean have had to find innovative ways to continue to generate income to provide for themselves, their families, and their communities. Thanks to a United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security (UNTFHS)supported training programme, entitled: &ldquo...

To support the women farmers during this crisis, UN Women has re-oriented its project, which initially intended to establish a seed bank to guard against future disasters. The project will now temporarily pivot to connect farmers to new outlets and market opportunities.

UN Women joins all indigenous peoples everywhere, especially indigenous women and girls, in commemorating the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. This year’s theme of “Indigenous Languages” challenges us to ensure that indigenous women and girls have a voice—quite literally—in the diverse political, civil, social, economic and cultural spaces that they occupy.

The UN’s largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s rights concluded today in New York with the strong commitment by UN Member States to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls. Coming on the heels of unprecedented global activism and public outcry to end gender injustice and discrimination worldwide, the 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) reached a robust agreement highlighting the urgency of empowering and supporting those who need it most and have, for too long, been left behind.

Spotlight on rural women and girls during the Commission on the Status of Women, focus on critical issues such as ensuring adequate living standards, food and nutrition security, access to land, technology, education, health, and ending all forms of violence and harmful practices

Statement by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women for International Women’s Day

UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Deputy Executive Director Yannick Glemarec will join other world leaders at the first World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) held today and tomorrow in Istanbul, Turkey. The first gathering of its kind, the Summit aims to place humanity—people’s safety, dignity and the right to thrive—at the heart of global decision-making and initiate a set of concrete actions and commitments to enable countries and communities to better prepare for and respond to crises. With more than 5,000 expected participants, the programme will include seven high-level leaders' roundtables on priority action areas.

Building on the lessons learned from its pilot work with rural women small farmers and decent work interventions with Caribbean domestic workers, the MCO Caribbean is broadening its partnerships to address the economic vulnerability of poor rural women-headed households.

Today, on the International Day of Rural Women, let us all, individuals, governments and the United Nations system, commit to recognize the contributions and rights of rural women, including their rights to land and resources.

Often totally dependent on rainfall for irrigation, battling increasingly longer droughts and intense bursts when the rain does come, Caribbean women farmers are looking to more sustainable means of crop production.

The 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will open on 27 February at United Nations headquarters, focused on the theme of empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, sustainable development and current challenges.