Bureau of Gender Affairs to Host Four-Day Workshop in Mandeville

The Bureau of Gender Affairs (BGA) will host a four-day workshop on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Emergency Preparedness and Response at the Tropics View Hotel, Hatfield, in Mandeville, Manchester, beginning on Tuesday, September 17.

More than 50 stakeholders drawn from various community-based organisations, non-governmental organisations and ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) are expected to attend the event.

A similar event, involving 60 participants, was held recently at the Roof Terrace, Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, 4-6 Trafalgar Road in Kingston.

The workshop is being organised by the ministry, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Sub-Regional Office for the Caribbean.

It will be conducted by Emergency Response Specialist, GBV in Emergency, UNFPA, Mary Oyella.
Acting Director for the Community Liaison Unit of the BGA, Nardia McLaren, told JIS News that the training is part of the Government’s National Strategic Action Plan to eliminate violence in Jamaica.

“This is a 10-year plan which spans 2017 to 2027, which sees the Government’s Bureau of Gender Affairs, through the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, coordinating our efforts to respond to gender-based violence,” she said.

Miss McLaren said that the workshop will include key stakeholders from St. Elizabeth, Clarendon and other nearby parishes that were affected by the recent passage of Hurricane Beryl.

She said that it is crucial “to build the capacity of both GBV and non-GBV actors on GBV in emergency prevention and response for effective and comprehensive GBV mitigation, prevention and response strategies in their respective programming”.

“This training is intended to support and strengthen the Government of Jamaica’s interventions and preparedness efforts for the intense hurricane season predicted for 2024,” Miss McLaren added.