Caribbean women of different generations and walks of life in Barbados, were recently afforded the opportunity to share their views and aspirations for the world they envisioned, and offer practical solutions to the most pressing global challenges they identified, including the climate crisis, rising violence, and the reversal of gains in women’s rights.
The opportunity came as the United Nations, Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean , through the Resident Coordinator’s Office, convened an Intergenerational Dialogue at UN House, Barbados, as part of a “We the Women” Global Campaign launched on March 8, International Women’s Day. The global campaign aims to gather women’s voices and perspectives for shaping a better future. It includes a global survey that solicits feedback on women’s priorities, fears, and hopes for the future, followed by a series of intergenerational dialogues, to complement the quantitative survey findings with richer, more quantitative insights.
In delivering welcome remarks to the forum, UN Resident Coordinator ,Didier Trebucq, told the women present who ranged in age from their 30s to their 70s, : “we firmly believe that women must be central to decision-making, particularly on issues impacting their lives, families, and communities. This intergenerational dialogue ensures your voices are heard and contribute meaningfully to shaping our world’s future.”
The group, which also included women with disabilities, offered hope and wisdom based on their various fields, including education, international development, law, human rights, business, and politics.
The session got underway with a vibrant ‘Fireside Chat’ with Dr. Rosina Wiltshire, Development Practitioner, and Gabrielle Gay, Law Student and Founder of the Erline Bradshaw Foundation. The pair, who represented two generations at the opposite end of the spectrum, offered shared views on the progress made and the issues and challenges that remained in the areas of global governance, the climate crisis, educational reform, and gender-based violence. They also highlighted strategies and needs to be prioritised to ensure that the world is a better place.
Making a strong call for educational reform to foster a gender-just Caribbean Ms. Gay contended : “Education is the nucleus of society’s progress… we cannot progress unless we change our mindsets.”
Dr. Wiltshire also emphasized the need for a redefining of masculinity, to include vulnerability and emotional expression, and to challenge existing stereotypes that equate manhood with toughness and aggression. Similarly, she underscored the need for the redefining of our language, as well as what we value as a society, and how we define wealth.
“Love is powerful. Love transforms our reality, so it is not ‘soft’, but we have to deepen the language we use to redefine what we value,” she maintained adding: “What do we value? What is wealth? We must move from merely financial wealth to social wealth, spiritual wealth, environmental wealth, intellectual wealth, and other dimensions that make for a healthy community, a healthy nation, and a healthy world.”
During the question-and-answer segment, salient contributions were also made by the other panellists who expressed concerns and suggested means to advance human rights, women in leadership, business and politics.
In her contribution, Barbadian High Court Judge and Justice of Appeal appointed at the Turks and Caicos Islands’ Court of Appeal , Justice Jacqueline Cornelius Thorne contended: “You cannot be a full citizen of any country unless very early on you understand as both men and women, that women are deserving of the full rights of citizenship, that they’re entitled to the full extent of participation in the economy and politics. That is what we are not teaching young men.”
The dialogue was moderated by Barbadian facilitator and gender and development specialist, Norma Shorey. It included participation from Dr. Crystal Haynes, a Barbadian politician and medical doctor, who is also a philanthropist and founder of The Lady Box Project, a non-profit organization that donates boxes to organizations who support women and families in need ; Shafia London, a Vincentian Entrepreneur, Philanthropist and Country Head in Barbados, St. Vincent and Dominica, for ABI, a global beverage company; and Dr Nastassia Rambarran, a Guyanese-Barbadian researcher, writer, activist, public health consultant and physician.
The viewpoints and ideas expressed during the Intergenerational Dialogue will be woven into a national report which will feed into a comprehensive global report. Both the survey and the global report will serve as inputs for the Pact of the Future, the anticipated outcome document of the Summit of the Future during the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.
The “We the Women” Global Campaign, is part of the forerunner “Women Rise for All Campaign”, an initiative of the UN Deputy Secretary General, in recognition of the transformative leadership of women leaders in keeping the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals.
