Organisations With Which CAFRA Collaborates

CAFRA collaborates with several organisations at national, regional and international levels. These include:

1. Deputy Chairperson, Caribbean Policy Development Center (CPDC)
2. Chairperson of the Functional Cooperation Committee
3. Chairperson of the OXFAM/DFID Capacity Building Project Advisory Committee
4. Coordinator of the Caribbean Gender and Trade Network
5. Member of the Caribbean Reference Group on Trade.

By associating with these organizations, CAFRA ensures that there is a gender component in the issues and programmes as well as the organization gets access to training, funding and advocacy opportunities.

CAFRA is currently part of research activity to produce Position Papers for consciousness raising towards the 5th Ministerial of the World Trade Organisation to be held in Mexico in September 2003.

Through its link with UNIFEM, CAFRA was sub-contracted to carry out Economic Literacy training within its gender and Poverty Project for the Windward Islands. Two manuals are currently available for use. UNIFEM also supported CAFRA in finance from the Fifth General Meeting.

CAFRA’s linkage with Women in Development Europe was particularly useful during this year. The Danish Platform – KULU Women in Development participated in the General Meeting in May 2002. One outcome was interviews with participants, which were translated into a publication.

In September 2002, there was an exchange visit from the Irish Platform. This allowed CAFRA to interact with its membership in Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

CAFRA enjoys a strong partnership with Donor Agencies, each of which brings a particular strength to the organisation. CAFRA is an organisation that will be around for a long time to achieve its objectives and HIVOS has been particularly supportive in providing core funding. The Heinrich Boell Foundation has positioned CAFRA at the head of its Caribbean Women’s Programme. OXFAM Great Britain and OXFAM Canada have provided consistent support on a yearly basis.

A new area for CAFRA has been the relationship with the Caribbean Development Bank on the Domestic Violence Intervention Project. The challenge here is a requirement to incur certain expenses and be reimbursed, which is difficult for organisations like ours that are largely dependent on donor funding.

CAFRA would like to strengthen its links with CARICOM and national government agencies to influence policy at that level.