safety steps

NEW YORK, 13th March, 2024… The Government of Antigua and Barbuda, as it prepares to host the landmark 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), jointly sponsored a major engagement at the United Nations yesterday that has paved the way for some of the most pressing issues affecting women across all SIDS to be addressed.

The side event, held on the margins of the 68 th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) taking place at the United Nations headquarters in New York, was held under the theme “SIDS and Gender Equality – Charting the Course Toward Resilient Prosperity for all using a gender lens.”

Antigua and Barbuda was joined in co-sponsoring the event by the Government of Canada, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and UN Women Multi-country offices from the Eastern Caribbean and Fiji.

The exercise proved timely and productive as the country will also host in the leadup to the SIDS4 Conference a SIDS Gender Equality Forum on May 25 and 26.

The Gender Equality Form will provide a dedicated space for persons from across all SIDS regions, from various stakeholder groups, from multiple sectors to look at gender equality and SIDS from a broad range of perspectives.

There is growing consensus that Gender Equality needs to be at the very centre of the review process of the progress that SIDS is seeking to make in achieving their sustainable development
goals and in devising a new decade of partnerships and solutions geared at achieving a resilient and prosperous future.

In attendance at yesterday’s side event was Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of State with responsibility for Social Transformation and Gender Affairs the Hon. Samantha Marshall. In seeking to set the tone for the major engagements in Antigua and Barbuda, she was clear in outlining the challenges ahead.

“In our pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), SIDS encounter hurdles that are both complex and multifaceted,” Minister Marshall pointed out.

“From the persistence of inequalities ingrained in individual mindsets to the alarming prevalence of violence against women, especially in the digital realm, our communities grapple with challenges that impede the march towards true gender equality and women’s empowerment,” she further lamented.

Joining her in leading a high level panel to discuss the myriad of issues were Prime Minister of Sint Maarten Silveria Jacobs, Prime Minister of Aruba Evelyn Wever-Croes, Minister of Internal Affairs of Tonga, Hon. Lord Vea and Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs in the Government of Barbados Hon. Kirk Humphrey.

One of the major objectives from yesterday’s event sought to identify key considerations and areas that can be included in the 10-year action plan that will be developed from the 4 th SIDS Conference that will ensure the sustainability of actions towards gender equality in SIDS.