"GBV in the Caribbean is influenced by a combination of cultural norms and socio-economic disparities. Until we address these norms, no matter how many laws we pass, no matter how many millions of dollars we give for reforming the courts and making them a nice place to come to, until we make people feel empowered and until we are assured that within intimate relationships and all other relationships, that these are relationships of equal human beings, we will continue to see the same problems recur."

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

In Barbados, women spend nearly 2.5 times more time on childcare than men, and close to three times more performing domestic work, childcare and adult care, combined. Globally, figures show, women perform 75% of unpaid care work globally or 4 hours and 25 minutes daily. That is three times men’s average of 1 hour and 23 minutes per day.

With a substantial investment of nearly USD one million, the Joint SDG Fund was a pioneering initiative and the first of its kind in The Bahamas and Bermuda. It aimed to address the unique challenges faced by medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs) in the creative and cultural, agribusiness, and tourism industries sectors and foster sustainable economic growth.

“It is pause for thought that this cost in terms of GDP of violence against women and girls in Grenada is 5.24%. These are significant resources that could be directed elsewhere. This is an area that I hope as duty bearers we can look at closely with a gender-budgeting lens, our new way of doing business."

The Bahamas Development Bank (BDB) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women Multi-Country Office - Caribbean (UN Women MCO Caribbean) recently signed a partnership agreement to provide access to low-interest loans of up to 2 million USD to agriculture, sustainable tourism, and creative businesses.

Across the world and the SIDS, women depend more on, yet have less access to resources. Women are employed in sectors with high vulnerability to disasters and climate change, concentrated in tourism-related services and sales sectors, making them more exposed to economic shocks during and after the crisis than men, whose employment is more diversified. Unleashing the power of women as first responders to crisis, disaster risk reduction, and building economic and environmental resilience is crucial to achieving sustainable development.

SIDS hold countless opportunities for resilience-building that can propel their progress and achievements towards sustainable development, and despite notable progress towards gender equality, they also have distinctive challenges that hinder women and girls’ empowerment and their rights. That is why UN Women co-hosted a Gender Equality Forum from 25 to 26 May in Antigua and Barbuda, ahead of the fourth International Conference on SIDS (SIDS4).

The Jamaica Stock Exchange officially marked International Women's Day with the Honourable Olivia Grange - Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Ringing The Bell to raise awareness of the pivotal role the private sector can play in advancing gender equality.

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.

An Evening of Empowerment was hosted by UN Women and CIBC, one of several activities held around International Women's Day

UN Women was recently part of a gender sensitive communication workshop funded by the Global Affairs Canada Build Back Equal Project in partnership with the Canada-CARICOM Expert Deployment Mechanism implemented by Catalyse+ with facilitation by Canada’s CUSO International

The Barbados Statistical Service (BSS) and UN Women Multi-Country Office (MCO) - Caribbean have partnered to implement a regional initiative aimed at determining the contribution of unpaid domestic care work to the economy, introducing targeted questions to the Continuous Labour Force Survey.

Launch of the Dominica National Project Steering Committee for the The Global Affairs Canada-funded Build Back Equal Project which focuses on ensuring women and youth-owned businesses have access to affordable and adequate financing, fit for purpose social protection programmes, and more effective sexual and reproductive health service access

UN Women recently handed over sewing machines and freezers to the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security in Guyana to support women's economic empowerment. The equipment provided under the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative will be used as business support for women who aspire to become entrepreneurs.

Only Two Caribbean Countries Meet 30% Gender Quota for Women Parliamentarians: Region Cannot Reach Full Potential Without Including Women in Leadership Roles. This data was revealed at an EU-UN Spotlight Initiative virtual event with implementing partner Atlantic Council on, “Best Practices to Expand Women’s Political Participation in Guyana and Jamaica.”

Under the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative, UN Women implementing partner Atlantic Council brought together UN agencies, Government officials from several departments, civil society representatives, academics and students to discuss the challenges and opportunities around ending GBV and enhancing women’s economic empowerment.

Six Caribbean women entrepreneurs with the support of UN Women Caribbean joined women entrepreneurs from 14 countries in Jabalpur Madya Pradesh India for the Madya Pradesh Women Entrepreneurs (MAWE) Business Beyond Borders International Conference and Exhibition.

A two-day workshop was part of a series of training hosted under the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative Caribbean Regional Programme and implemented by the UN Women Multi-Country (MCO) Office – Caribbean and the National Women's Commission to equip CSOs with the skills to secure funding opportunities for sustained programmes, manage projects effectively, improve financial planning and ensure accurate reporting for accountability