The United Nations Joint SDG Fund has injected nearly $1 million into this programme which takes steps to facilitate the sustainable economic empowerment of women, youth and people with disabilities and their greater access to financial mechanisms, knowledge sharing and capacity building particularly in areas of agribusiness and fishing.

Women in St. Lucia will benefit from a social protection project, funded by Global Affairs Canada, that will boost women’s economic resilience by tackling the barriers that exacerbate their vulnerabilities to achieving economic empowerment. Co-led by UN Women and UNFPA, in partnership with the Government of St. Lucia, the Build Back Equal project was launched today at the Bay Gardens Inn to provide sustainable opportunities for women’s economic growth that will contribute to COVID-19 recovery.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the World Food Programme (WFP) will be implementing the US $1.1 million joint programme “Modernization of the Social Protection Systems in Jamaica: Towards an Adaptive, Shock Responsive, Inclusive System”.

On the eve of the 16 Days of Activism to end gender-based violence, 54 young women participated in a simulated all women parliamentary sitting through the support of The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago and the European Union-United Nations Spotlight Initiative.

At the 15th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD15), heads of state and government, senior UN officials, leaders of intergovernmental organizations, top trade experts, prominent development principals and thinkers from around the world will share their vision of the solutions required, including the role of trade, in forging a more inclusive and sustainable way forward (3 - 7 Oct 2021).

In the Caribbean and around the world more people are at home due to the impacts of COVID-19 lockdowns and/or the subsequent unemployment, as a result care work responsibility in the home has multiplied. In the absence of measurement, women’s total contribution to social and economic development is not being captured.

‘Expanded income support, the provision of liquidity for small businesses to preserve jobs and the design and implementation of gender responsive social policy’ are three of the recommendations outlined in the new UN Human and Economic Impact AssessmenT (HEAT) Report for the British Virgin Islands.

Ryancia Henry is originally from Antigua and Barbuda, she moved four months ago to Montecito, California, to take up the position of Director of Housekeeping, managing a team of 60 people, at a hotel that has now closed because of the COVID-19 outbreak. With international travel disrupted, and movement restrictions within the United States of America, Ryancia is among millions of workers in the hospitality industry considering what the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will be on her, her staff, her family and her friends.

The promotion of women in leadership positions, the gender pay gap - which can reach 30% on average -, social responsibility to support women in communities and the role of companies to eliminate violence against women are some of the issues that are beginning to come increasingly into the pattern of discussions of important companies and institutions in the public and private sectors.

Bridgetown, Barbados : - Partnerships are at the foundation of UN Women’s work on the ground in the Caribbean and are the main vehicle through which UN Women is able to realise a multiplier effect for expanded and improved results for all women and men, girls and boys.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced that the government, due to its commitment to empower women economically has signed the instrument of ratification of ILO Convention C 189 (also known as the Domestic Workers Convention) according to an official statement from the Office of the Prime Minister.

Ministers, officials and authorities of national women’s machineries from Latin America and the Caribbean met from 26–28 January in Santiago, Chile, calling for full implementation of the commitments to gender equality and the empowerment of women within the Sustainable Development Goals.

The priorities set to inform next steps around the localisation of the SDGs in the Caribbean were identified at a regional meeting of Ministers responsible for Gender Affairs, Parliamentarians and stakeholders towards ensuring a Caribbean voice and focus on Gender Equality in the emerging global sustainable development agenda.

As we get set to embrace a new global development roadmap, what will this mean for the Caribbean? What must our priorities be and how will we make them known to ensure that the Caribbean needs are given high visibility and programmed for action and finance?