Understanding Dynamics of Gender Key to Development & Social Transformation

Minister of Development, Dr. Paul Robertson, has suggested that development and social transformation could not fully take place, without an understanding of the dynamics of gender in the Jamaican society, and by extension, the region.
Understanding the dynamics of gender extends to government business planning and policy framework, the Minister noted while, pointing specifically to women entrepreneurs, who currently comprised 70 per cent of the Small Business Association (SBA).
Speaking at the closing of the International Labor Organisation (ILO) Sub-Regional Meeting on Strengthening Women-Owned Enterprises, held recently at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, the Minister said that policymakers had to be both cognizant and sensitive to the level of female involvement in small and micro businesses in Jamaica.
Pointing to challenges faced by businesswomen on a whole, the Minister said, “the Government stood ready to assist, particularly from a policy perspective, to help deal with challenges [confronting businesswomen] and to help overcome them.” The Government of Jamaica through the Bureau of Women’s Affairs, the Minister continued, had been undertaking projects geared towards facilitating the development of the entrepreneurial skills of women, as well as the provision of employment, particularly in rural communities.
“I know that we have invested a few million dollars in these types of activities, so it is not that we are talking about it without trying to be involved in it seriously,” the Minister pointed out.
In fact, Dr. Robertson said, it has been one of the critical objectives of the Government to ensure that, the process and benefits of development encompass everyone and did not place any particular group in society at a disadvantage, hence the focus on gender issues as it related to business opportunities and environment.
Meanwhile, the Development Minister said that the three-day ILO Sub-Regional meeting had assisted in bringing greater focus on the concerns and challenges facing businesswomen, not only in Jamaica, but the region. “I wish to commend the ILO, which has also sponsored the creation of a website to promote the networking and visibility of Caribbean entrepreneurs,” the Minister added.
The coming together of women entrepreneurs from all over the Caribbean, the Minister noted, was totally consistent with the movement towards the establishment of a single market and economy and, a deepening of the Caribbean integration process.
“It is so important that we are together because we are one people, one market and we have to develop together in that way. Business facilitation touches many areas, including gender, and that is why we are here to see if together we can find the solutions to the thorny issues which continue to impede progress,” the Minister stated.
Dr. Robertson also said that the Government had a responsibility to not just reduce the transaction cost of doing business in Jamaica and the region, but to ensure that it facilitated and encouraged a pro-business environment that is gender sensitive and “seeks to achieve competitiveness but also seeks the development of our region as one.”
For small countries such as Jamaica, Dr. Robertson stressed, it was imperative to better utilize available technology. “Technology is available to us in the same way that it is available to large countries and therefore, it is very important for us to use the technology to improve market access as a critical component to enterprise development in this particular global environment,” he emphasized.
Participants included women entrepreneurs nominated by the Caribbean Association of Women Entrepreneurs (CAWE) and its affiliate national women’s organisations and whose attendance the ILO funded. Presenters included Gerry Finnegan, Head of ILO Women’s Entrepreneurship Development and Gender in Enterprise (WEDGE); Valerie Veira, Chief Executive Officer of the Jamaica Business Development Centre and I. Chris Imoisili, Senior Specialist, Entrepreneurship and Management Development from the ILO Sub Regional Office in the Caribbean.