Virtual meeting explores concrete actions for parliamentarians to advance gender equality and sustainable development in Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
ParlAmericas, UN Women Multi-Country Office for the Caribbean, and Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWiL) partnered to host a virtual meeting, Tying the Threads Together: Parliamentary Actions to Advance International Agreements on the SIDS and Gender Equality, that brought together parliamentarians and other stakeholders from the Caribbean to discuss the critical role of parliaments in advancing the SIDS agenda and international frameworks on gender equality and sustainable development – namely the Bridgetown Initiative 3.0 and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
The meeting, which served as a follow-up to the SIDS Gender Equality Forum and the 4th International Conference on SIDS held in Antigua and Barbuda in May 2024, was opened by Alisha Todd, Director General of ParlAmericas, and began with remarks by the Honourable Senator Dr. Joyelle Clarke (Saint Kitts and Nevis), Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment, Climate Action and Constituency Empowerment.
The Honourable Alincia Williams Grant (Antigua and Barbuda), President of the Senate, and Tonni Brodber, Representative of the UN Women Caribbean, conversed on the core principles of the SIDS agenda, the Bridgetown Initiative 3.0, and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, with emphasis on their relevance to the region’s unique development challenges as SIDS. This was complemented with a presentation by Hazel Brandy-Williams, Vice-President of CIWiL, on the value of multi-stakeholder collaboration, followed by an open dialogue among participants on actionable steps that parliamentarians can take to support the implementation of these international agreements.
The meeting also featured a presentation by former Senator, Dieudonne Luma Etienne (Haiti), who focused on the current context and challenges for women and girls in Haiti and underscored the importance of parliamentary diplomacy and advocacy as a means to support peace and sustainability across the region. The session then closed with remarks from Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women.
