Jamaica, Colombia to Collaborate on Teenage Pregnancy Response

Jamaica and the Republic of Colombia have established a partnership to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and best practices to strengthen the response to teenage pregnancy in the countries.

Advisor on Gender Affairs and Gender-based Foreign Policy in Colombia, Diana Maria Parra Romero, is in the island to learn more about the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF) programme for teenage mothers, with a view to establishing a similar initiative in Colombia.

During her two-day stay in the island, Miss Romero will meet with officials of the WCJF, the Bureau of Gender Affairs (BGA) and women’s organisations.

Miss Romero, accompanied by Ambassador of Colombia to Jamaica, Her Excellency Emiliana Bernard-Stephenson, and First Secretary of the Embassy, Andres Perez, toured the WCJF in Kingston on Tuesday (March 5) to get a first-hand look at the facility and its programme offerings.

The WCJF, an agency of the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, provides adolescent mothers with the opportunity to continue their education during pregnancy and prepare them for reintegration into the formal school system.

Also on the tour were Chair of the WCJF Board of Directors, Debby-Ann Brown Salmon; Executive Director, WCJF, Novelette Howell; and Director of Field Operations, WCJF, Beverley Martin Berry.

Speaking at a short ceremony before the tour, Mrs. Brown Salmon said the WCJF has 10 main centres and four outreach stations islandwide that cater to the needs of girls who are pregnant, giving them a second chance to complete their education.

“It is about giving second chances. We don’t label at the centres; we do not judge at the centres,” she pointed out.

“We are not advocating for teens to get pregnant, but we say if it does happen there is a place for you to go, and when we get you we are going to treat you like the queens you are,” Mrs. Brown Salmon said.

She noted that the WCJF is not only concerned about the girls but about their babies as well.

“They must know how to take care of their babies. We have nurseries with trained professionals who take care of the babies while the girls continue their education… that is what we are about – the continuing of your education,” she pointed out.

Principal Director of the BGA, Sharon Coburn Robinson, who represented Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, urged the girls to dream big and to believe in themselves.

“Understand that you are a very important person and you have the power in you to become what you want to be,” she said.

Miss Robinson hailed Ambassador of Colombia to Jamaica, Her Excellency Emiliana Bernard-Stephenson, who facilitated the visit of Ms. Parra Romero, for her support to the WCJF.

“Ambassador, in less than six months, you have walked quite a distance with the Women’s Centre. You have been doing a million things. You have become like family to us. You have donated funds to the Advancement of Secondary/Tertiary/Remedial Education for Adolescent Mothers (A-Stream) programme and you have introduced the Diplomatic Corps to the wonderful work that we do with the young mothers,” she pointed out.

A-Stream was developed to increase the number of adolescent mothers who complete their secondary education after reintegration.