Triennial Awards for Women – CARICOM

The Rt. Hon. Dame Janet Gwennett Bostwick

Fri, 11 Jun 2021 17:46:14 +0000

The Rt. Hon. Dame Janet Gwennett Bostwick, counsel and attorney, is known as a model politician and pioneer among women in The Bahamas. She is admired and respected as a champion for the empowerment of women, not only in her native Commonwealth of The Bahamas, but also in the region and beyond.

She has the distinction of having achieved several `firsts’ in her career. These include: first female Secretary General of The Bahamas Public Services Union; prosecutor; President of the Bar Association and Chairman of the Bar Council; Member of Parliament, following her election in 1982; Attorney General, Minister of Foreign Affairs and also the first female to act as Prime Minister of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas. She has also held the portfolios of Minister of Social Services, Housing and National Insurance, and Minister of Justice and Immigration. Throughout her tenure as a Cabinet Minister she has always held ministerial responsibility for women’s affairs.

Dame Janet’s activism on women’s issues is steeped. It started in the mid-1960s, and continued throughout her political career. As a trade unionist, she campaigned to improve the status of women primarily because of the inequities they faced. These range from the pay gap with men, non-existent maternity benefits to job insecurity at the time. Once admitted to the Bar, she became even more vocal. She advocated to audiences in churches, women’s groups and unions for more participation of men in the rearing of children, increased maintenance and for a resolution of issues associated with children born out of wedlock, including improved custody and the administration of justice for children and young persons, and for changes in legislation around sexual offences, domestic violence and matrimonial matters.

In pursuit of the quest for women’s rights, between 1992-1994, she led the Bahamian delegation at the OAS Inter-American Commission of Women and served on its Executive Committee. Since 1994, she has served on the Executive Committee of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. In 1995, she served as a Regional Vice Chairperson of the Bureau of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. At this Conference, she was head of the delegation of The Bahamas and The Bahamas was unanimously selected to coordinate the Caribbean Region. In this capacity, she presided at all CARICOM meetings.

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Dr. Lucille Mathurin Mair

Sun, 14 Jun 2020 18:11:14 +0000

Dr. Lucille Mathurin Mair is undoubtedly a Caribbean citizen of great intellectual stature and high international repute and of whom all the Caribbean is proud. For her outstanding service as a diplomat, scholar and women’s rights activist she was accorded the highly deserved honour of fifth recipient of the CARICOM Triennial Award in 1996.

In response to her career urgings, Dr. Mair left her country of birth, Jamaica, to pursue a degree in History at the London University from which she graduated with Honours. On return to the Caribbean she obtained a Ph. D in History at the University of he West Indies. Dr. Mair has had a long and rewarding association with the UWI serving as Lecturer, first Warden of the Women’s Hall of Residence and in her post retirement years as the first head of its Women and Development Programme. She was instrumental in the establishment and success of this programme.
Dr. Mair has been hailed as a highly esteemed international diplomatic figure serving prestigiously as Assistant Secretary-General in the office of the United Nations Secretary in 1979, from which she performed with distinction the role of Secretary-General of the World Conference on the United Nations Decade for Women in 1980. The admirable record of international service of her career includes appointment as the Secretary-General’s Advisor to UNICEF on Women’s Development and Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Palestine from 1982 to 1987.

Dr. Mair’s service at the national level was no less distinctive. The Jamaican government sought her expertise for guidance on developing policies, measures and programmes intended to advance the status of its women and to integrate them fully in the process of development. She functioned as a public servant in several positions, as first Advisor on Women’s Affairs and head of the Jamaican Information Service in 1974 and a Deputy Head of Jamaica’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in 1975. Dr. Mair was subsequently appointed as Jamaica’s Ambassador to Cuba. In a second round of service to the Jamaica government, she was appointed a Senator and Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in 1992 was appointed to the substantive post of Permanent Representative for Jamaica to the United Nations. In spite of her rigorous diplomatic and other professional engagements Dr. Mair, remarkably, was able to serve as member of or representative on several international and regional boards and committees including the Board of Governors of the International Development Research Council in Canada, the Population Council (U.S.A.) and the International Conference on Apartheid in Nigeria. She worked with diligence to impact in positive ways the lives of women in the Caribbean as a regional coordinator of the Women and Development Studies Unit (WAND) of the UWI. Her career of committed service and extraordinary achievements in the realms of diplomacy, development and women’s advancement won her local, regional and international recognition. Among the awards she received is the OAS Women of Distinction Award in 1987 and the national honours of Commander of the Order of Distinction and the Order of Jamaica. She has the remarkable distinction of being conferred Honorary Doctorates from three universities, the University of the West Indies, the University of Florida and the University of Ulster in Ireland.

Dr. Mair has produced many publications. The breadth and diversity of her work has served to widen the scope of actions targeting women and their advancement in the Region.

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Dr. Peggy Antrobus

Sun, 14 Jun 2020 18:08:19 +0000

Dr. Peggy Antrobus, third recipient of the CARICOM Triennial Award in 1990, has a true Caribbean cross-national identity. She was born in Grenada, acquired citizenship of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and now resides in Barbados. Her vast and much recognized work and contributions in the area of women’s affairs has earned her respect, admiration and acclaim both regionally and internationally. In preparation for a lifetime of service to the region that can, at the least, be described as illustrious and exceptional, Dr. Antrobus pursued studies in Economics at the Bristol University in the United Kingdom and in Social Work at the Birmingham University. Her Ph. D in Education was obtained from the University of Massachusetts.

The multifaceted and distinguished career record of Dr. Antrobus tells of a legendary advocate for women’s development whose wide ranging professional endeavours and experiences have been used to positively influence the course of women’s development in the Caribbean. Following a stint of service at the Jamaica Ministry of Finance in 1958, Dr. Antrobus assumed office as an Assistant Registrar at UWI, later transferring to academia as lecturer in economics, sociology and social work, contributing to the university’s academic prestige. Her career path led her to serve in multiple capacities within the Region and internationally with appointments which include: Chief Community Development Officer for St. Vincent (1969-1970), Director, Women’s Bureau, Office of the Prime Minister, Jamaica (1974-1977), Secretary, Caribbean Coordinating Committee on Women’s Affairs (1977-78), Tutor-Coordinator, Women and Development Unit (WAND) UWI at Cave Hill (1978-1995). Consultant to UNIFEM (1998-99), Co-sponsor with Centre of Concern, Washington D.C for Strategic Planning Seminar on Gender and Trade (1998-2000). Several international agencies including CIDA, UNDP, UNIFEM benefited from her expert knowledge as a consultant.

As a member of numerous boards, advisory and steering committees among which are the International Women’s Tribune Centre, U.S.A. the Global Fund for Women, U.S.A., the Grenada Education and Development Programme, Meridians, a new inter-disciplinary feminist journal in the USA, the Structural Adjustment Review Initiative Network (SAPRIN) Washington D.C. she shared her expertise and worked diligently to serve the interests of women and the region.

Through her service and enthusiastic leadership she forged new territory for women as an instrumental founding member of the Caribbean Association of Feminist Action and Research (CAFRA) and Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN). She contributed to the vitality of DAWN functioning as its General Coordinator from 1990 – 1996. She has written and published extensively on issues pertinent to the role of women and their development.

The CARICOM Triennial Award is among several prestigious honours and awards bestowed on this extraordinary Caribbean woman. A select few are the Distinguished Service Award from the UWI Guild of Graduates for outstanding contributions to the development of women in the Caribbean and for commitment to Third World Feminism in 1990; the “Women Who Dared Award” from the national Black Women’s Health Project in 1993; the UNIFEM Anniversary Award “for extraordinary commitment to the world’s women” 1995 and the UWI 50th Anniversary Award “For Contribution to the Work of the University” 1998.

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Hon. Madam Justice Desiree Bernard

Sun, 14 Jun 2020 17:51:14 +0000

The Honourable Madam Justice Desiree Bernard, the first female judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice was conferred with the honour of the eighth CARICOM Triennial Award for Women. A lawyer by profession, she began her career in 1963 when she attained a Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of London. By 1964 she was a qualified Solicitor and practiced in the Guyana Law Courts until 1980, when she was appointed the first female judge in the High Court of the Supreme Court of Guyana, where she had practiced since 1965.

Thereafter, she attained what has been described as “many firsts, blazing a path of glory as the first female to hold many illustrious positions”. In 1992, she was appointed the first female Justice of Appeal in the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Guyana; in 1996, the first female Chief Justice; in 2001, the first female Chancellor of the Judiciary of Guyana and the Caribbean and in 2005, the first female Judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice.

Her illustrious career has been studded with appointments to distinguished posts, nationally, regionally. She has served as a member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the International Association of Women Judges and as Vice President of the International Federation of Women Lawyers. Regionally – a member of the Caribbean Council of Legal Education, President of the Organisation of the Commonwealth Caribbean Bar Associations.

She has been at the forefront in the formation of the Caribbean Women’s Association, the Georgetown Toastmistress Club, the Conference on the Affairs and Status of Women in Guyana (CASWIG), Guyana Consumer’s Association and the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers.

In the area of volunteerism, the Hon. Madam Justice Bernard’s excellence continued which is evidenced in her accession to the positions in the religious, education and movements for the young. She was the first female Chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of Guyana (and the first in the Province of the West Indies) as well as a member of the Guyana Girl Guides Association’s Board of Trustees.

As further testimony of her ability, she has penned papers on gender and legal issues such as “The Domestic Application of International Human Rights Norms as it Affects Women”, “Judicial Activism in Promoting the Human Rights of Women” and “Confronting Gender-Based Violence in the Caribbean”. This latest paper will be included in a forthcoming publication edited by Prof. Kenneth Hall and Myrtle Chuck-A-Sang, titled The Caribbean Integration Process, A People Centred Approach. These articles by the Hon. Madam Justice Bernard are among more than twenty scholarly pieces.

Her nine awards, include the Medal of Service from the Caribbean Women’s Association and the Order of Roraima of Guyana, the second highest national award of Guyana and now, the 2005 CARICOM Triennial Award for Women.

The Honourable Madam Justice Desiree Bernard is truly an icon in her time, a model of her profession and an outstanding Caribbean woman.

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Magda Lois Muriel Pollard

Sun, 14 Jun 2020 17:02:07 +0000

Magda Lois Muriel Pollard, national of Guyana, and stalwart women’s activist was fittingly bestowed the honour of the fourth CARICOM Triennial Award for Women in 1993. Throughout her country of birth and the wider Caribbean region, the name Magda Pollard is synonymous with the movement for women’s empowerment and women’s rights. The creation of a liberating and sustaining environment for women is the passion which fuels her lifelong and consistent service in the arena of women’s development.

Ms Pollard commenced her career in the field of Home Economics, pursuing this endeavour and earning the Teacher’s Diploma from the Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Domestic Science, and also gaining prizes as the Best Child Teacher and for Needlework.

Ms. Pollard later pursued the Postgraduate Certificate Course at the Queen Elizabeth College, London University, in Home Economics related to Community Development, gaining a distinction.

A significant part of her post University years were spent on return to her home land at the Carnegie School of Home Economics as both lecturer and Principal. Her appointment as the first Women’s Affairs Officer at the CARICOM Secretariat opened vast opportunities for her to impact the lives, not only of Guyanese women, but women throughout the Region. With boldness, she accepted the challenge of spearheading the development of a programme for women within CARICOM. The many initiatives and programmes that emanated from the Women’s Desk gave impetus to the process of gender mainstreaming within CARICOM and set the agenda for the integration of actions and policies to benefit women in regional programmes.

Ms. Pollard’s invaluable contribution to women’s development in the Caribbean captured regional attention and earned her several honours and awards in addition to the CARICOM Triennial Award. She has received the 1992 CARIFESTA Award for Women, two national awards, the Cacique Crown of Honour and the Golden Arrowed of Achievement as well as the special award of the Caribbean Association of Home Economists of which she was a founding member.

Her career of service extends to membership of various commissions and bodies with women’s welfare as the primary goal and she is currently Chairperson of the Guyana National Commission on Women. Ms. Pollard was at the helm of a regional project to prepare model legislation for the removal of all forms of discrimination against women which addressed rights of citizenship, inheritance, domestic violence and sexual offences. Significant hallmarks of her career included her contribution to the establishment of focal points in government departments to address the issue of the advancement of women. During her tenure she organised for the creation of Women’s Bureaus in the OECS. Ms. Pollard spearheaded a three-year programme – Management for Development: Effecting Change whose target included senior women administrators. Her illustrious career spans participation in the emerging network among UN specialized agencies, representation at various regional and UN Fora; and the creation of inroads in strengthening relations between governments and non-governmental organizations. She has to her credit two publications on Home Economics which she has co-authored.

A woman of grace and dignity, Magda Pollard is highly regarded by her peers and the wider community. Her continued active engagement in work to raise the level of consciousness about the status of women and to engender necessary reform attests to a deep and unswerving life commitment to creating a better environment within which women would live.

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Ms Marion Berthel

Sun, 14 Jun 2020 16:59:19 +0000

Marion Bethel, Bahamian by birth and quintessential Caribbean woman, is a distinguished attorney, scholar, poet, film-maker, essayist and short-story writer who has gained national, regional and international recognition and acclaim for her advocacy in the areas of gender equality and human rights.
Ms. Bethel’s accomplishments have been shaped through a rich career and distinguished academic pursuits and achievements worldwide. Our recipient began as a Junior Abroad to the University of Valencia in 1973 and went on to acquire a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Spanish at the McGill University in Montreal in 1975. Immediately after, she completed a Master of Arts Degree at the Teachers College, Columbia University, New York and entered the teaching profession in The Bahamas, eventually serving as a lecturer at the College of The Bahamas.
Ms Bethel’s academic and career aspirations were however, not to be narrowly circumscribed, and in 1984, she was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Law from Cambridge University, England and admitted to the Bar of England and Wales the following year. After practicing Law with the Attorney General’s Chambers in The Bahamas, she returned to academic pursuits and in 1990, received a Master of Arts in Law from Cambridge University in the UK. Ms. Bethel has been a partner in the Sears and Company Law Chambers in Nassau since 1994. She has been a member of the Legal Aid Centre, The Bahamas Bar Association, Founder and Co-editor of The Bahamas Bar Journal, and has served on the International Federation of Women Lawyers since 2007.
As an advocate for Human Rights, Ms. Bethel was Co-Founder and Chairperson of The Bahamas Committee on South Africa, and from 1996 to 1997, she was Convener and Chair of the Citizens’ Committee against Violence and the Death Penalty in Nassau. She has been a delegate to several conferences including the Caribbean Regional Judicial Colloquium for Senior Judges on the Promotion of Human Rights for Women and the Girl Child through the Judiciary.
Throughout her career, Ms. Bethel has made significant contributions to advancing gender equality. She is the Founder and Convener of Developing Alternatives for Women Now (DAWN), established in 1986 as a women’s association in The Bahamas, committed to articulating and actualizing the needs and aspirations of women. She served as a member of the National Women’s Advisory Council from 1991- 1996, and during this period, also served on several international committees including the Group of Experts for the Organisation of American States, Inter-American Commission on Women responsible for drafting Model Regulation for Member States on the prevention and elimination of violence against women.
Ms Bethel’s dedication to the cause of women has also found expression in her work as a community volunteer. She has conducted peer and group counseling for women in crisis, undertaken rape survivor advocacy work and taught English and reading skills at the Women’s Prison in Nassau.
In the field of arts and culture, Marion Bethel has excelled in writing poetry, short stories and essays. In 2008, she co-founded The Bahamas Writers’ Summer Institute, which offers creative writing workshops in poetry, playwriting and screenwriting to emerging and established writers and also engages writers and The Bahamian community in a dynamic conversation on the literary arts, culture, society and the role of the writer. Ms Bethel has also served as guest writer at several notable regional and international meetings for writers and poets, including an International Writers Workshop at the Hong Kong Baptist University. She has also had the honour of serving for a year as the Alice Proskauer Poetry Fellow at the Mary Ingraham Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College, Harvard University.
Not surprisingly, Marion Bethel has been the recipient of numerous awards, among them, the James Michener Fellowship awarded by the Caribbean Writers Summer Institute in Miami, Florida in 1991. As the recipient of the prestigious Casa de Las Americas Prize awarded in 1995 for her volume of poetry called Guanahani, My Love, Ms. Bethel can be justifiably regarded as an important member of that elite group of Caribbean writers whose works have been recognized as making a significant contribution to the regional and global conversation on human rights in general, and the rights and condition of women in particular.
This outstanding daughter of the Caribbean has more recently ventured into yet another area of endeavour to give further voice to her passion and advocacy for women’s rights. Her recent work, a documentary film entitled Womanish Ways: Freedom, Human Rights & Democracy, the Women’s Suffrage Movement in The Bahamas 1948 to 1962, chronicles the journey to the enfranchisement of women in 1962.   As expressed in her own words:
‘Bahamian women worked tirelessly to resist and redress the racial discrimination and segregation and other social, political and economic inequities that permeated Bahamian society during this period.   Women from all walks of life played a significant role in helping to advance human rights for Bahamians and, thereby, created a deeper understanding of freedom and democracy’.

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Ms. Nesta Patrick

Sun, 14 Jun 2020 16:58:05 +0000

It was most likely that Nesta Patrick, first recipient of the CARICOM Triennial Award for Women, accepted the Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) conferred on her by the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine in 2001 with characteristic humility and pride. This marked another milestone in the accomplished life of Ms. Patrick, acclaimed women’s rights activist, social worker and advocate for the recognition of the mentally challenged. To be singled out as the first Caribbean woman to be honoured for outstanding contribution to the region is a testimony to her remarkable sphere of influence and impact on the lives of women and children throughout the Caribbean.

Ms. Patrick’s early passion for social work and the social development of individuals inspired her pursuit of tertiary education which spanned the West Indies, Europe and North America. She attended the UWI in its formative years as the University College of the West Indies, in Mona, Jamaica and subsequently proceeded to the University of Bristol and

Wales in the United Kingdom. These institutions provided the opportunity for her to receive professional training in Social Work, Child Care and Social Development, Policy and Planning. Being raised in a family which valued education and which espoused personal achievement, Ms. Patrick broadened her university experience to include Columbia University and Pace University in the United States from which she graduated with a B.A and MBA in Professional Studies respectively.

Her participation in the first World Conference on Women held in Mexico in 1975 provided the stimulus for a life dedicated to public service and advancing the social and economic development of women. Working for and with the mentally challenged was an immense source of satisfaction and joy for her, translating into an unprecedented commitment to serving their interest and maintaining their placement in the public and regional agenda. She served as President of the Caribbean Mental Retardation Association. The Caribbean Women’s Association (CARIWA) owes its existence to the pioneering work of Nesta Patrick and her fellow co-founders. Retirement is no deterrent to her loyalty and dedication to the condition of women and children. She still contributes her time and experience at the Rape Crisis Centre in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and working with youth.

Nesta Patrick is a true model of excellence and inspiration for all Caribbean women. Her outstanding career and lifetime achievements merited several honours and awards including the Government of Trinidad and Tobago National Award Public Service Medal of Merit for Community Service bestowed on her in 1979; the Caribbean Award for Mental Retardation in 1978 and the Award for Community Service by the Business and Professional Women’s Club in 1992.

Nesta Patrick’s dream is the attainment of a more even gender balance in society and she admonishes the region’s “educated progressive men and women” to become involved and committed in order to create a gender balance that is lacking in our society.

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Professor Barbara Evelyn Bailey

Sun, 14 Jun 2020 16:50:55 +0000

CITATION IN HONOUR OF PROFESSOR BARBARA BAILEY ON THE OCCASION OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE NINTH CARICOM TRIENNIAL AWARD FOR WOMEN, 1 JULY 2008, DICKENSON BAY, ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

Professor Barbara Evelyn Bailey, Jamaican by birth and a Caribbean woman by disposition, has distinguished herself as an educator and as an advocate of gender equality and equity in the Caribbean Community and beyond. She has done so primarily through her teaching and research at the University of the West Indies and through unstinting public service at both national and regional levels. Her service to her country and the region and in particular, women’s empowerment has been undertaken not only within the confines of academia, and the public service but extended its reach to the community level, where as a committed Christian woman, she ensured that her skills and talents in the area of advocacy and women’s empowerment were made available for use in the service of the Church at national, regional and international levels.

This eminent scholar reached the pinnacle of her academic career in 2003, when she was appointed Professor, Gender & Education, having served as University Director of the Regional Coordinating Unit of the Centre for Gender & Development Studies, University of the West Indies from 1995. Professor Bailey received her academic training at the University College of the West Indies, and later at the University of the West Indies, where she read for Bachelor of Science Degrees in Botany & Zoology, and Medical Microbiology and Masters and Doctoral degrees in Education. She has served her Alma Mater with distinction in several capacities over the past twenty-eight years.

Professor Bailey is a prolific researcher and writer. She has authored and edited numerous books and articles in refereed journals and has presented papers at several academic conferences and policy oriented meetings. Her abiding interest in educational development within the region is reflected in her research profile, with the majority of her publications centering on issues related to gender and education. One of her most critical pieces of research is that on Gender Differentials in education which examines the underlying issues related to what is now manifested in growing gaps in participation and performance between boys and girls in education. Her work in this area aims at improving the understanding of gender and its impact on the educational process and education outputs. Her research also encompass gender based violence, gender disparities within the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), micro enterprise development, gender ideology and pedagogy including feminist pedagogical theory.

Professor Bailey has a clear entrepreneurial bent having succeeded in mobilizing substantial sums for Gender projects. She was formally recognized by the University for this when, in 2007 she was awarded the Principal’s Research Award for the Research Project Attracting the Most Research Funds. In that same year, she also received the Principal’s Research Award for The Research Project with the Greatest Business/Economic/Development Impact for a Research Project in Gender Training and Research.

Professor Bailey’s tireless research efforts have served to provide sound policy advice to the Government of Jamaica as well as to the Region on matters related to gender and women’s rights. She has represented the Government of Jamaica at regional and international conferences since 1985 when the United Nations World Conference to Review the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women, was held in Nairobi, Kenya, and since 2004, has chaired the National Gender Advisory Committee, mandated to develop a strategic and comprehensive policy for achieving gender equality and social justice and provide direction, coordination, integration and monitoring of gender mainstreaming activities of the Government of Jamaica. She was appointed the representative to the Meeting of the Committee of Experts on Violence (CEVI) of the Inter-American Commission of Women, Organization of American States, July 2007 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Professor Bailey has given yeoman service to the Region and has been integrally involved in the work of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD). She has served in an advisory capacity on the Regional Advisory Committee on Gender and Development, a Task Force co-chaired by CARICOM and UNIFEM, and also as a Member of the CARICOM Task Force on Gender Mainstreaming. The Region has benefitted from Professor Bailey’s expertise as she served as consultant to several CARICOM led projects and activities such as Consultant to Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat at the Twenty-Third Special Session of the General Assembly entitled Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century, United Nations Headquarters, New York, June 2000, and Consultant to Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat at the Eighth Session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, Lima, Peru. She has also made significant contribution to capacity building of the Gender Bureau throughout the Region.

The work that Barbara Evelyn Bailey has undertaken and has pursued so passionately, has in no small way assisted Caribbean countries to achieve national and international development goals including their commitments to the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Millennium Development Goals, especially promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. She joins a group of select women who have made significant contributions at the national and regional level in various fields of endeavour that have impacted positively on the social and economic development of the Community.

When Professor Bailey’s achievements are considered against the background of the challenges that many women face in combining their productive, reproductive and community management roles, her contribution looms even larger. Over the years, she has managed to combine her role as a Methodist Minister’s wife; caregiver; mother of six children and grandmother of five with an amazing and fulfilling career in the service of the Community.

For her outstanding contribution in the field of women and development, it is fitting that the Caribbean Community now invites Professor Barbara Evelyn Bailey to accept the Ninth Triennial Award for Women.

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Professor Joycelin Massiah

Sun, 14 Jun 2020 16:48:57 +0000

In acknowledgement of her exceptional career accomplishments,Professor Joycelin Massiah was conferred the CARICOM Triennial Award for Women in 1996. A true Caribbean citizen, Professor Massiah’s life path transcends Caribbean boundaries having been born in Guyana, studied and worked for several years in Jamaica and now residing as a citizen of Barbados. As a renowned Caribbean academic, scholar and intellectual, she has, through her scholarly research, contributed significantly to shaping the agenda on women and development in the Region and the movement for promoting women’s rights. A UWI graduate in Economics and Sociology, Joycelin Massiah returned to her alma mater and served with distinction as a member of the UWI community for several years as researcher and lecturer. She provided extended extraordinary service to the University, first as Research Assistant at the Mona Campus, as Research Fellow at the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) Cave Hill, and finally as Director of ISER, Cave Hill from 1974 to 1992. Her remarkable record of involvement with the UWI included membership of the Senate of the University.

Professor Massiah’s career is characterized by many “firsts”, a fitting testimony to a career hinged on nothing short of excellence. As first female Head of Department at Cave Hill, first Caribbean female Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences, first female Director in any of the branches of ISER and first head of the Caribbean Office of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), she moved the process of incorporating Caribbean women into the hierarchy of leadership one step further.

Professor Massiah is well known for her seminal research project on “Women in the Caribbean” which was inspired by a recognition of the dearth of data on women in the region, needed to inform development initiatives. Her work in this area has had a profound impact on the establishment of a frame of reference for analyzing and comprehending the issues related to women, their status and development in the region.

As a highly recognized scholar, Professor Massiah was invited to serve on several regional and international committees and boards among which is the Board of Directors of the International Centre for Research on Women and the Advisory Committee of the Population Council on Family Structure, Female Headship and Poverty. In a consultative capacity, she has authored several papers and reports for regional and international bodies such as CARICOM, UNESCO, PAHO and USAID.

In her current capacity as Regional Programme Advisor to the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) based in Barbados, Prof. Massiah has responsibility for 26 countries in the region. The post offers her remarkable opportunities to interface with organization and agencies, government and non-government in furthering her dedicated efforts to create conditions of betterment for the women in her region.

The Government of Barbados honoured the work and lifetime contributions of Professor Massiah by awarding her the Golden Cross of Merit, Barbados’s third highest award in 1998.

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Professor Rhoda Reddock

Sun, 14 Jun 2020 16:47:31 +0000

Professor Rhoda Reddock, national of Trinidad and Tobago and esteemed scholar of the Caribbean Community, is the seventh outstanding woman from the Caribbean Community to receive the CARICOM Triennial Award for Women.

Attaining a Doctorate in Applied Sociology in 1984 at the University of Amsterdam, she served as a Research Fellow and Associate Lecturer at the Institute of Social Studies at The Hague before returning to the Region in 1985, where she was appointed Lecturer, then Senior Lecturer at the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine.

Professor Reddock has distinguished herself as an academic, administrator, and international consultant, who has dedicated her scholarship and teaching to women and development in the Caribbean Community and has been unstinting in her promotion of Gender and Development Studies as an important discipline in its own right. The pursuit of this cause has been arduous and she has been assiduous in her advocacy in support of the development of regional programmes in Women and Development Studies.

Professor Reddock’s advocacy in this area emerged at the Institute of Development Studies at the Hague in the early 1980s where she was instrumental in the development of the Master’s Degree specialisation in Women and Development which, at that time, was one of the first of its kind in the world. She later championed the cause in the Caribbean Community where she played a major role in the conceptualisation and introduction of Women and Development Studies at the University of the West Indies. This effort contributed significantly to the establishment in 1993 of a Centre for Gender and Development Studies. Professor Reddock’s professional, academic and administrative expertise were rewarded in 1994 when she was appointed the first Head of the Centre for Gender and Development Studies at the St. Augustine Campus.

As a leading authority on development issues especially as it impacts on women, she has authored numerous publications and is best known for her work ‘Women, Labour and Politics in Trinidad and Tobago: a History’ which has been named by Choice Magazine as the Best Academic Book for the year in which it was published. This book and her other publications on Women’s History have gained regional and international recognition and acclaim.

Professor Reddock has served and continues to serve with distinction in numerous international, regional and national Organisations, such as, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Food of Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the Commonwealth Secretariat, the European Union, Stitching HIVOS, the Inter-American Co-operation in Agriculture (IICA), the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and academic institutions throughout the world.

Professor Reddock’s involvement in CARICOM’s preparation of the Fourth World Conference on Women contributed, in significant measure, to the highly acclaimed success of the Region’s efforts in this area.

In paying tribute to the outstanding contribution of this year’s awardee, one must refer to the fact that Professor Reddock has been an inspiration and mentor to the younger generation of Caribbean feminists.

In espousing the cause of women and development, she has pursued this interest with rigorous scholarship and so distinguished herself that in 2001 she was presented with the University of the West Indies’ Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, Administration, Research and Public Service.

Salutations,… I present, Professor Rhoda Reddock, Awardee of the Seventh CARICOM Triennial Award for Women.

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