Capacity Building Workshop Held For Young Fathers

The Bureau of Gender Affairs engaged with 30 young fathers in a capacity building workshop to improve career and life outcomes.

The workshop targets fathers aged 15 to 25 who are enrolled in the Women Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF) programmes which provide assistance to adolescent parents. They are from the WCJF locations in Morant Bay, Portland, St. Mary and Kingston.

Held on Friday (June 17) at the Caymanas Golf Club, St. Catherine, the workshop is one of several events organised by the Bureau to mark this year’s Father’s Day which is being celebrated on Sunday (June 19) under the theme, ‘Jamaica’s 60th: Fathering Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’.

The workshop was held concurrently with the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport’s annual Outstanding Fathers Awards ceremony at the same location.

Lead Representative for the Special Service Desk for Men, Nashan Miller told JIS News it is a comprehensive programme which aims to expose participants to the resources which will help them to advance in their career ambitions and become better providers.

“We want to empower not only in character but also in ability to become earners…These were the major areas we concentrated on in terms of building their capacity and getting them ready for the work world,” he explained.

Mr. Miller said it is intended that these workshops which are being staged in phases, will target all the young fathers across all WCJF centres island wide.

They are being held under the ‘Young Fathers of Jamaica Initiative’ which highlights the importance of supporting young fathers.

Friday’s workshop outlined guiding principles with the aim of equipping the young men with the knowledge to become better fathers.

The session focused on job seeking and entrepreneurship skills through strategic partnership with agencies such as the recruitment offices of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), Jamaica Defense Force (JDF), Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB), along with other learning institutions such as the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU), HEART Trust NSTA Jamaica-German Automotive School (JAGAS).

The workshop also facilitated resume writing and job seeking services to assist them in making their preparations for the labour market. There were also presentations on the available entrepreneurship support.

The ‘Young Fathers of Jamaica’ initiative is being implemented by the Bureau of Gender Affairs in partnership with the WCJF.

It models the WCJF programme for adolescent mothers and is designed to provide the support that adolescent fathers need.