SECTION D
TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2022
TONNI Ann Brodber with Denise Antonio, UNDP at the Office of the Prime Minister, Bahamas during the signing of the MSDCF
Bahamian women leading the way regionally and globally By FELICITY DARVILLE Bahamian women are leading the way amongst women in the region who are making major strides for gender equality, according to Tonni Ann Brodber, representative of the UN Women Multi-Country Office - Caribbean. They are not only representing the Bahamas, they are representing women globally as they advance the cause of gender equality throughout the world. They are pushing for women and girls to be given fair opportunities for advancement – not leaving men behind – but rallying with men to ensure there is a level playing field for all. Most recently, Sumayyah Cargill, Unit Head of Strategic Development and Initiatives for the Bahamas Development Bank (BDB) made a presentation at the 2XCollaborative Gender and Climate Finance Taskforce, which has a $15 billion commitment to mobilise capital towards women’s empowerment.
UN Women facilitated the BDB relationship with 2XCollaborative, which ensures that the BDB will use a gender lens when making decisions for investing going forward. The Bahamas became the first in the Caribbean country to participate in this financing approach. “Sumayyah is an innovator and leader in financing for gender equality, and she represented the Bahamas at the 2XCollaborative with grace and aplomb,” Brodber said. “We have effective women in finance and in many other fields in this region and Bahamian women are leading the way.” “We want to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) owned by men, women, and youth are provided with access to funding, and that their financing and functions are met in gender-responsive ways.” Brodber also pointed to the presentation by attorney, activist and author Marion Bethel-Sears, who was among 11 experts elected to serve on the United Nations
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). “It was a powerful moment,” she said of Sears’ election, pointing to the importance of Caribbean women playing central roles in the “agenda making space” within the UN system. She highlighted the work of Gaynel Curry, a human rights, gender and women’s rights advocate who has a seasoned career working with the United Nations and also served as Director for the Department of Gender and Family Affairs in the Bahamas. Brodber’s work in this field began in 2009 when she became a UN specialist, focused on bringing an end to discrimination and violence against women and girls. Way back then, she was impressed with the work of Sandra DeanPatterson and the Crisis Centre, and used it as a model for other countries. She served as the gender specialist for the United Nations Development Programme in
Making STEM more feminine Call for national strategy to address gender gap By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net
FEM STEM Bahamas is one of the local organisations leading the charge in preparing and retaining women in the areas of science, technology engineering and mathematics (STEMS), with the hopes of closing the gap, encouraging diversity, equity and inclusiveness in these important fields. In the Bahamas, and elsewhere, omen are significantly underrepresented in STEM-related fields. This is the reason why FEM STEM has been introducing these fields to young girls through its after-school programme. FEM STEM Bahamas was officially launched in December 2019
South Africa, as well as briefly with the UN Women South Africa MultiCountry Office and established what is now the UN Women Country Office in Haiti. Prior to her August 2020 appointment as representative of the UN Women Multi-Country Office for the Caribbean, she spent five years as its deputy representative. Prior to this work, Brodber was the team leader for the Advancing Gender Justice in the Pacific programme with the UN Women Fiji Multi-Country Office. During these years, she has had many opportunities to visit the Bahamas to partner and provide technical support on causes for the advancement of Bahamian women. Most recently, she was a part of the UN Bahamas mission this past February, which led to the historic signing of the Multi-country Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (MSDCF). She participated in courtesy calls and talks with various government ministries as the
during the inaugural STEM GEM Awards. “We have specifically targeted high school girls for two reasons: while girls are outperforming boys in school, there is a significant male to the female disparity in STEM leadership roles. When girls enter high school they tend to lose interest in STEM-related careers. Consequently, we established the organisation to address these challenges,” said Tyrhonda Knowles Glinton, founder of FEM STEM. The goal of the organisation is to increase the number of female STEM professionals in the Bahamas by empowering girls age 14 to 18 to become innovators in STEM fields, leaders in their communities, and to be independent problem-solvers. The after-school programme was officially launched in January. Ms Knowles-Glinton said their mission of is to educate, empower and equip high school girls to pursue opportunities in science, technology, engineering and maths. “This year, the participants will seek to design and develop an innovative technology solution to address waste management problems for the New Providence
TONNI Ann Brodber
MSDCF will help to pave the way forward for the Bahamas in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined in the UN Agenda 2030. “Over the years, I have had the opportunity to work with Gaynel Curry, Dr Jacinta Higgs, and now Calae Philippe (in their capacities as directors of Gender and Family Affairs) and it was always a pleasure to work with the Bahamas,” she said. “We are standing ready to support the Bahamas in its development - and we do not work alone - we work in collaboration with our partners across the UN system. They are all important in the work we do across the Bahamas.”
landfill. We believe that when young people are actively involved in solving problems they become educated and empowered,” she said. Currently, there are 20 girls in the programme. A UNESCO report found that only 35 percent of STEM students in higher education are women. “Well, there are a number of factors why this gap exists,” said Ms Knowles-Glinton. “Research indicates that some of the factors include exposure to careers and representation in the STEM field, implicit and explicit bias influenced by pre-existing beliefs about professions, lack of belief in their own capabilities.” But strides have been made to address these issues. “Some of these include URCA’s Girls in ICT Day event, summer camp programmes organized by Beta Camp and HAP, the Technical Cadet Corps Programme, and FEM STEM Bahamas hosting a series of events and activities that educate, empower, and equip girls to close the gender divide,” she said. However there is much more she believes can be done. “I think there should be a national strategy implemented not only to address this gender gap but the skill gap in this country as it relates to STEM. This, however, requires a holistic approach and involvement from stakeholders in the public and private sectors,” said Ms Knowles-Glinton. “The question often asked, ‘Well, what about the boys?’ My response to that is while this organisation aims to prepare young women to be tomorrow’s STEM leaders, we are here to work side by side with our male counterparts, embodying our country’s motto of one people united in love and service,” she said. GIRLS ages 14 to 18 are encouraged to learn about STEM fields