Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation Facility to Be Built in St. Thomas

A Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF) facility is to be built in St. Thomas.

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, who made the announcement, says the centre will be designed and constructed by the Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ), which will also adopt the facility that is expected to have a nursery and dormitory, among other features.

The FCJ is also spearheading development of the Morant Bay Urban Centre, work on which is advanced.

“The development that is happening in the parish is booming, and they are going well,” Mr. Holness said.

He was addressing the WCJF’s fundraising dinner at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston on Saturday (May 18).

Mr. Holness also announced that he and Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, will be facilitating the donation $10 million towards the construction of a WCJF dormitory in Kingston.

“What is needed now to expand the [WCJF’s] services and to make [these] more impactful would be more dormitories in some areas, and we hope that we can partner with the private sector [on that] to complete the facility,” the Prime Minister added.

The WCJF provides continuing education for girls dropping out of school due to pregnancy, and facilitates their reinstatement into the formal school system after giving birth.

Through its commitment to improved educational attainment and outcomes and adolescent reproductive health, the WCJF strives to promote a holistic approach to service delivery for and the provision of information to young girls.

Prime Minister Holness, who praised patrons supporting Saturday’s fundraising dinner, said the WCJF is an “extremely important” entity, adding that their support is not just a matter of charity, “it is a matter of social responsibility being executed in a meaningful way.”

He maintained that supporting the WCJF’s work represents an investment in ensuring that Jamaica’s adolescents, particularly teenaged mothers, get to fulfill their life opportunities.

In this regard, Mr. Holness said the entity can be described as the Government’s “most meaningful and successful social intervention programme.”

More than 45,000 teen mothers have been assisted by the WCJF since its establishment in 1978 to facilitate their continuing education; aid in delaying repeat pregnancies among adolescent mothers through sexual and reproductive health education, and enable their reintegration into the formal school system or placement in another institution of learning.