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YWiL Network Workshop strengthens young women’s leadership and collective action

January 22, 2026 | Activity

When young women leaders from across the Caribbean come together, they do more than share experiences – they sharpen their impact, test strategies, and strengthen the collective power of their voices. This energy was on full display at the recent Young Women in Leadership (YWiL) Network Workshop, convened by ParlAmericas in partnership with Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWiL) and the UN Women Multi-Country Office – Caribbean. Over 40 participants took part in the two-day workshop, leaving the programme equipped with tools to expand networks, strengthen advocacy, and elevate bold solutions across governance, community engagement, and policy.

Held January 22-23, 2026, the workshop went beyond conversation to action-oriented dialogue. Through interactive sessions, thematic group activities, and engagement with women parliamentarians and regional activists from Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Curaçao, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, and Sint Maarten, participants tackled issues such as gender-based violence, employment, access to healthcare, and climate change. By the close of the workshop, participants had forged more than connections; they had built a renewed sense of collective purpose in championing issues and advocating for change across the region.

Further strengthening women’s leadership was also a core area of focus. Drawing on lived experience and lessons from navigating political, parliamentary, and civic spaces, participants examined barriers that limit women’s participation in decision-making and explored practical strategies to overcome them. From mentorship and coalition-building to policy advocacy, narrative power, and intergenerational alliances, the shared learning enabled the collective strengthening of capacity to drive solutions.

As part of the workshop’s outcomes, the participants committed to providing mentorship to other young leaders, amplifying other young women’s work and voices, advancing gender-responsive decision-making, and maintaining active engagement through coordinated action and peer support. Building on insights from national experiences – and particularly Saint Lucia’s recent progress on menstrual equity – participants agreed on this as an important issue for joint advocacy and agreed to collectively call for the removal of VAT on menstrual products across the region, translating learning into tangible policy action.

ParlAmericas remains committed to supporting platforms like the YWiL Network that do more than name the problem. The workshop itself was the culmination of a year of virtual programming for the YWiL Network, during which ParlAmericas, CIWiL, and UN Women Caribbean facilitated cross-regional exchange, learning, and capacity building among young women leaders in relation to gender equality issues and strategies for advancing related advocacy.

The YWiL Network’s virtual and in-person exchanges reaffirm the value of spaces that nurture leadership over time, connect vision to action, and ensure that young women across the Caribbean are not only present in decision-making spaces, but are shaping them together, and for the long haul.

The YWiL Network Workshop was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada.