Day V
Friday 27 February 2006
The morning began with a summing up of Thursday’s work by Maura Felix from the St Lucia team.
I. Presentation of action plans
The three country teams presented their case studies and action plans, the product of their work in their country groups over the week.
Barbados
Presenter: Gale Yearwood
The Barbados team presented an action plan for tourism, taking into account key factors from the tourism green paper - stakeholder participation, public-private-civil society partnerships, and the preservation of natural and cultural resources. Challenges: level of education, tenure of work (seasonal, part-time, shifts), promotion. Opportunities: non-traditional products and services (eg small hotels), community tourism development, health tourism.
Actions :
• Set up dialogue with stakeholders and write in gender issues
• Develop B and B accommodation, with funds and training
• Provide infrastructure (eg toilets near street vendors)
• Training to help community tourism be sustainable.
• Provide for 24-hour work system (eg child care, transport)
• First step: Bureau of Gender Affairs has funds. Gale and John will take first actions.
Feedback from course team
Mariama Williams: identified niche for women; community tourism creates sustainable livelihoods
Jacqui MacDonald: scope for joint marketing and a certification mark
Jamaica
Presenter: Angella Taylor-Spence
The Jamaica team presented the E-learning Project, with a focus on recommendations to integrate gender into the plan. The project originates in and is funded by the Ministry of Commerce and Technology, in partnership with the Ministry of Education. The project already has an action plan and its aim is to improve the education of students in grades 7 – 11, initially in 150 high schools. The elements of the programme are: standard materials, equipment and software, management information systems, teacher training, a remedial programme and a standard exam.
Actions:
• Level of participation of boys and girls to be monitored and performance data to be disaggregated by sex
• Clarify the project’s emphasis on boys
• Provide training in gender for guidance counsellors and teachers involved in e-learning
• Gender awareness in teacher training
• Aim to attract more male teachers
• Develop gender-appropriate methodology to suit the different needs of boys and girls
• First step: Deirdre Salmon to lobby both ministries
Feedback from course team
Dorienne Rowan Campbell: need to track and disaggregate data about assumptions
Need for strategies to make sure boys’ interests don’t take over.
Mariama Williams: two issues which need to be kept separate –a) boys dropping out b) gap between boys and girls re digital technology
Don’t forget the human element – teachers’ skills
Issues of access and security
Catherine Atthill: educational and gender aspects of materials; these are not just technical issues.
St Lucia
Presenter: Lera Pascal
The St Lucia team presented a project to develop the ICT sector in St Lucia. They made a SWOT analysis of the sector, contrasting the positive environment and potential for development, with the lack of guiding policy, institutional infrastructure and skills.
Actions :
• Conduct needs/ situation analysis disaggregated by sex
• Build capacity by educating students
• Training members of public with classes everywhere
• Subsidies and concessions for the purchase of computers by deprived sectors
• Incentives for all businesses wishing to enter sector, especially micro business
• Raise awareness re incentives
• Encourage employers in sector to offer flexi-hours, home working and convenient shifts
• Make recommendations to committee responsible for ICT, offering opportunity to add gender into policy
• First step: the three offices represented at the workshop will collaborate and make input to ICT office
Feedback from course team
Mariama Williams: needs cohesive framework to tie together disparate players.
Opportunity to build into integrated policy framework, including gender and development concerns.
Learning outcomes :
- Apply what learned to future action in different countries
- Compare with other examples and experiences
- Share perspectives between sectors and islands Network
II. Revisiting expectations: feedback
Participants were asked to reflect on the week and revisit their original expectations.
Key points
General
• The combination of theory and practice is a sound instructional strategy
• Good mix of private and public sectors; importance of this dialogue and opportunity for networking
Programme
• Information overload – what is the real knowledge transfer when so much is packed in? No chance to internalise
• Need for more time to work through practical exercises in more depth
• Need for clearer preparation/ advance warning about final project
Content
• Focus on agriculture or services or NAMA and work it through. Don’t try to cover all three.
• More about regionally specific topics.
• Workshop showed it is important to integrate gender into policy drafting, but didn’t explain specifically how to do it.
• A lot of work about integrating gender into trade, but more needed to help gender people look specifically at trade projects
Participants
• Include more men in workshop
• Include regional trading organisations (invited, but couldn’t come)
• Include a fourth country (Guyana did not attend). Max 30 participants – could invite 5 countries in case of drop out
• Others to invite: consumer groups and NGOS; civil sector; the disabled; the universities; training institutions; other ministries. However, need to identify focus of workshop and then decide who to invite – who are key influences.
Learning outcomes
- Start reflecting on own learning and identify gaps
- Start planning future action
III. Close
The closing session was an informal ceremony. Each team performed a song from their island. All participants received a certificate of participation from the Commonwealth Secretariat.
