Strengthening Leadership in the Women’s Movement

In her feature address, Dr. Rhoda Reddock, Head of the Centre for Gender and Development Studies, at the St. Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies, traced the history of the women’s movement and identified some of the challenges currently facing it - key being the need for the movement to recreate itself in a changing context. "Is the movement up to the task," she questioned, "or can [it] afford not to be?"

Under the guidance of Facilitator, Dr. Leith Dunn of Jamaica, participants explored the issue of leadership and highlighted their struggles to balance voluntary work with survival issues, in a period of increased demand for services at community, national, regional and international levels. Also acting as resource persons were Dr. Rhoda Reddock, Lalla Fatouma-Maiga (UNIFEM), Mellon Jordan (CIDA Gender Equity Fund), Judy Williams (GRENCODA) and Nelcia Robinson (CAFRA).

The need for and value of research on the women’s movement in individual countries emerged as a key element in leadership for transformation of society, coupled with training for capacity building of the women’s organizations. Training needs identified were in the areas of organizational development, human resource management, proposal writing, fundraising, membership, negotiation skills, conflict resolution, and parenting.

The Workshop was conceived as a precursor to a Women’s Leadership programme being implemented by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) over the period from 1998-2000. The programme places heavy emphasis on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as a locus for learning from and about women’s leadership. Organized by CAFRA in collaboration with UNIFEM and the Dutch funding agency, HIVOS, the Workshop was attended by representatives of women’s organizations in Anguilla, Antigua, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.