International Women’s Day 2021: Caribbean Women Leadership Matters

This year, the theme for International Women’s Day (8 March, 2021) is, “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.” It celebrates the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has compounded challenges to gender equality. The UN Secretary-General’s recent report reveals that  in several countries where women have been in leadership positions, the response to the pandemic has been particularly effective.  For instance, Heads of Government in Denmark, Ethiopia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, New Zealand and Slovakia [and I add Barbados] have been widely recognized for the rapidity, decisiveness and effectiveness of their national response to COVID-19, as well as the compassionate communication of fact-based public health information. Yet  the global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, highlights the gender gaps that remain. The UN SG's Report recognizes that while women’s full and effective participation and leadership in all areas of life drive progress for everyone,  they  are still underrepresented in public life and decision-making. Women for example are Heads of State or Government in 22 countries, and only 24.9 per cent of the membership of national parliamentarians are women. 
 
The Caribbean has an opportunity to make its collective voice resonate at the  65th Session of Commission on the Status of Women,  March 15-26, 2021. The Session is  aligned  to the theme of the 2021 World Women’s Day with a focus on SDG #5, “Women's full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”. It also relates to the flagship Generation Equality campaign, which calls for women’s right to decision-making in all areas of life, equal pay, equal sharing of unpaid care and domestic work, and ending all forms of violence against women and girls, and health-care services that respond to their needs. 
 
Pioneers of Caribbean Women Leadership  
 
In its  Blog,  celebrating World Women's Day 2020, GOFAD highlighted as essential reading  the seminal study, The UWI  Gender Journey: Recollections and Reflections coedited  by three of the Caribbean's foremost scholar-advocates, Professors Jocelyn Massiah, Elsa Leo Rhynie and Barbara Bailey. https://www.globalonefrontier.org/blog/2020-world-womens-day-prompts-reflections-and-recollections-on-women-and-development-in-the-caribbean. The study emphasized  the role of Caribbean pioneers under the banner,  Woman and Development (WAND). They included Peggy Antrobus, Dame Neita Barrow, Lucille Mair, Kathleen Drayton, Nesta Patrick, Magna Pollard and the succeeding generation of Caribbean women leaders. Among them, Rhoda Reddock, Eudine Barriteau, Patricia Mohamed, Verene Sheppard, Lieth  Dunn and Rosina Wiltshire. It is important to note the prominent roles of the pioneers and their successors in fashioning the landmark Beijing Platform for Action in 1995 and how they contributed to its consolidation 1996-2010. These women leaders initiated the roll out of undergraduate and graduate women studies programmes, accelerated capacity building in research, the establishment of a robust data base to sustain analysis and policy making, piloted  the emergence of new programme areas such as gender and sexuality, construction of masculinities, the making of feminisms, and  the blossoming of outreach activities within and beyond the academy. Such outreaches include national-level initiatives on gender policies, gender awareness and training  women in leadership. Their active participation in the UN  Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination (CEDAW) and in the creation of Development Alternatives with Women in the New Era (DAWN] also coincided with increasing numbers of movements at country level advocating for women's rights and gender equality. 
 
 
COVID-19 and its Challenges to Gender Equality
 
The  challenges confronting women leaders are compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. The IMF 2020 Report  shows that in the COVID-19  era  economic conditions are worsening, and women are hit hardest. With a predicted 3-4% increase in unemployment, the crisis could push an additional 25% more  people into poverty. 
 
Therese Turner Jones, IDB Caribbean Regional Representative in an article,  "The hard facts about Gender Equality in the Caribbean" in Caribbean  Development Trends   (March 13,  2020),  shows that in many countries of the Anglophone Caribbean, the life of a woman  holds a singular paradox.  Women have years of secondary school education and enroll in tertiary education institutes more than men. "Yet once outside the gilded doors of academia women are confronted by challenges such as lower pay, lack of parental support, insufficient protection from violence and harassment, and other obstacles to career progression".  In addition,  female students at UWI  make up more  than 65% of the 2016-2019 graduating  classes,   but Caribbean women make 60 to 70 cents for every dollar made by men.  Only in Barbados, Belize and Guyana does government pay 100% of maternal leave.  The lack of this essential benefit in most  Caribbean countries is disadvantageous to  women since it  negatively effects  their  career path,  decrease  their income, and may lower their pensions upon retiring. 
 
These inequities are further compounded by the digital transformation ushered in by the COVID-19 era that drives unequal outcomes in education,   access to  healthcare and financial services. Empirical studies by UNECLAC, the IMF and the World Bank all illustrate how the social and economic inequalities that affected women prior to COVID 19 are further amplified.   
 
According to the World Bank Women, Business and the Law 2020 report,  the  Caribbean rankings  on the gender equality index are variable.  Guyana is the exception, with a score of 100, with a legal framework that establishes equal pay for women and men and no constraints on a woman’s decision to work where jobs are available.  The report shows that the average labor force participation rate amongst women aged 15-64 is 73.5%. This  compares favorably  to the global average of 52.3%. However the workplace indicator based on  levels of  integration of women in the workplace and pay indicator in relation to men, result in a range of  comparative rankings for Caribbean Countries as follows: 
 

• Bahamas, Guyana, and St Lucia  are the only ones to rate highly on both indicators.
• Barbados rates high on integration into the workplace and moderate on pay. 
• Trinidad and Tobago ranks high on pay and moderate on integration. 
• Antigua,  Haiti and Suriname rank high on pay and moderate on integration. 
• Grenada ranks high on pay and low on integration. 
• Jamaica, St. Kitts and St Vincent and the Grenadines rank moderate on pay and low on integration.  

 
 
Meeting the Challenges with the March to Equal Participation 
 
In a fascinating virtual discussion coordinated by the Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWiL) and chaired by Dylis McDonald  (March 1, 2021), the panelist reinforced  the major reasons why women leadership matters and  the  rationale for the march to equal participation. Among their proposals include:
 

• Creating the conditions for transformational leadership  that place emphasis on diversity, and strengthening collaboration among the generations of advocates.
• Placing emphasis on organizational development.
• Enabling new entrants into the leadership circle. 
• Building leadership capacity.  
• Placing emphasis on enhancing entrepreneurship among women. 
• Breaking the circle  that circumscribes women in small and medium size enterprises. 
• Encouraging women to grasp the opportunities for ownership of land and capital.  
• Intervening with the media to ensure the roles of women are not trivialized. 
• Highlighting the specifics of a gender agenda. 

 
 CIWiL has  launched a project for a  children's book aimed at celebrating the contribution of Caribbean women leaders to the development of the region.  https://qrco.de/bbv7q8. Herein lies the opportunity for increasing awareness and building partnerships that will ensure the legacy of  pioneer women leaders and their successors,  expand beyond recognition given in the CARICOM Triannual Awards for Women (See the 12 recipients since the inauguration of the awards in 1990  https://caricom.org/awards__recognition/triennial-awards/ ).  It will also help to escalate the endeavor toward building a bridge of hope for the sustainability of gender equity which includes partnerships with men and boys.  
 
Conclusion:  Opportunity to Build a Bridge of Hope for Women Leadership 
 
The foundation exists for Caribbean Women in leadership to surge. Challenges for gender equality are well defined.  Success rests on  backward and forward linkages,  ensuring  that strong  institutions and leadership potential exist to catalyze the surge. 
 
For example, the Spouses of CARICOM Leaders Action Network (SCLAN), since its  inauguration in 2016 was led by First Lady Simplis Barrow of Belize as Chair and  First Lady Sandra Granger of Guyana as Vice-Chair. SCLAN commands international platforms, collaborates with the Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD)  and  attracts resources for programmes to reduce gender equality, violence against women and girls, and  improve the health of women and girls including  access to sexual and reproductive health and rights. In a recent handover of leadership, First Lady Patricia Minnis of The Bahamas has assumed the Chair of SCLAN supported by First Lady Sharon Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago, and First Lady Eloise Gonsalves, St Vincent and the Grenadines.  SCLAN's advocacy especially in these COVID times, will be vital in  asserting  the role of the Caribbean in global arenas such as the UN General Assembly and the upcoming Commission on the Status of Women.  
 
But for advocacy to be most effective, it needs to be anchored in a series of prerequisites that apply to SCLAN and other organizations that promote Women Leadership matters. These include:
 

• Institutionalizing   organizational roles and governance arrangements  that are credible  and transparent and place emphasis on leadership accountable. 
• Expanding  funding options to guarantee higher degrees of autonomy. 
• Consolidating  the priorities  respecting  national variations and uniqueness of local communities and paying attention to diversity.
• Collaborating with regional and international partners  through the CARICOM institutions,  UN agencies and  international and corporate partners.     
• Grounding advocacy  on scientific information and research from competent  agencies and in particular the Institutes of Gender Studies.   
• Ensuring effective communications for sharing results,  promoting best practices and advocating nationally and regionally through its public awareness platforms, geared to  responding to and incorporating the interests of NGOs. 

 
These are the pillars on which the Caribbean can revive the vibrancy of wome1n and development toward a robust gender agenda,  the drive toward  women in leadership and achieving gender equality. In the words of First Lady Sharon Rowley,  "this is the time to Build that Bridge of Hope".   
   
 
 
Eddie Greene