Jamaica to Host Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Conference

A special hybrid Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Conference will take place at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Wednesday (July 12).

Jamaica’s Parliament, which is the local branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), will host the ‘Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Regional Conference on Women’s Political and Parliamentary Leadership’.

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport and Deputy Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Olivia Grange, made the disclosure during a statement to the House on Tuesday (July 11).

The CWP is the arm of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association whose mission is to promote the representation of women in CPA Branches and their full and equal participation in political and parliamentary leadership at all levels.

The CWP represents more than 3,000 women parliamentarians in over 180 Commonwealth national and sub-national Parliaments across the 56 countries in the CPA’s nine regions.

“The proposed Conference will seek to educate women parliamentarians about the proper functioning of a Parliamentary Women’s Caucus by building on the work of two recent workshops on developing gender caucuses, held in December 2022 and March 2023,” Ms. Grange said.

She informed that the conference will also sensitise non-parliamentarians about the legislative process, explore how women’s issues may be promoted in the legislature and identify how legislation can be used to protect women and vulnerable groups in the Caribbean society.

The Conference, which will have 80 locals attending in-person as well as remote overseas participants, is expected to facilitate meaningful exchanges among approximately 300 parliamentarians, women councillors, private and public sector and youth leaders from the Region’s 19 branches.

“Provisions will also be made for self-funded non-Jamaican CWP members who wish to attend the conference in person,” Ms. Grange advised.

The Minister said the conference will be funded solely through a CWP Regional Strengthening Funds grant of £10,000 ($1,900,000).

The grant will defray costs related to venue and meals; speakers/presenters; equipment (including dedicated Internet service); stationery and printed material; and décor, photography, and entertainment.

Speakers for the event include Minister Grange; Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Hon. Marlene Malahoo Forte; House Speaker, Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert, and Dr. Angela Brown Burke, among others.

Jamaica’s Houses of Parliament currently has a total of 26 women Parliamentarians, comprising 18 Members of Parliament and eight Senators.