FROM left, Minister of State for Public Service Pia Glover-Rolle; Tonni Ann Brodber, representative, UN Women Multi-Country Office; Minister of State for Social Services and Urban Development Lisa Rahming; chairman of the Bahamas Development Bank Senator Quinton Lightbourne; Denise Antonio, UNDP resident representative, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos; and United Nations resident coordinator Dr Garry Conille.
A programme designed to empower women was launched yesterday with State Minister in the Ministry of Social Services & Urban Development Lisa Rahming reassuring government’s commitment to gender equality and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Celebrating the progress of women in The Bahamas, Minister Rahming pointed to the foundation laid by the Women’s Suffrage Movement: “Women of our generation are proud inheritors of that glorious legacy. We vote in greater numbers; and while we remain committed to doing our part in nation building, the struggle to eliminate gender inequality continues.”
“In that spirit, the principles of this programme are aligned with the ‘leave no one behind’ mandate, and gender equality, driving women’s empowerment forward.”
The United Nations has committed to an investment of nearly $1m into the Joint SDG Fund Joint Programme on “Building Back Equal” Through Innovative Financing for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. It is designed to empower women, youth, people living with disabilities, and Family Island residents.
Ms Rahming said this joint venture, initiated by the Bahamas Development Bank (BDB), marks the first successful proposal for the Bahamas to the Sustainable Development Goal Fund.
“This joint programme recognises that societies with higher levels of gender equality experience faster and more sustainable development outcomes,” she said.
“As we economically empower our people, no social or demographic grouping is to be left behind. In doing so, we are to remain sensitive to the customs, culture, way of life, values and the integrity of the physical environment of the communities and markets in which we conduct business and commercial trade.”
She congratulated the BDB for leading the charge as the facility through which women will be able to be empowered in the area of agriculture, culture, tourism and other sectors. BDB is a part of the 2XCollaborative Gender and Climate Finance Taskforce, facilitated by UN Women.
The UN Mission in town for the launch of the Joint SDG Programme on Building Back Equal includes UN Resident Coordinator Dr Garry Conille, and UN Joint Fund SDG Head of Reporting Heewong Kim, along with representatives from UN Women, UNDP, UNESCO, FAO, and PAHO/ WHO.
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